This weekend I decided to do something a little crazy. Well, crazy for me. I didn’t, you know, go bungee jumping or anything.
This is what I did:
In case you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) or NaNo for short, is when a bunch of writers start out all bushy-tailed and bright-eyed on November 1st and write, write, write the novel that’s burning a hole in their fingertips, hoping to end up with 50,000 words by November 30th. There are no hard and fast rules, and really, it’s all about the journey. No one shows up at your house with baseball bats if you don’t meet the 50K goal by the end of the month; you’re really competing with yourself. And the vicious inner critic that all writers have to learn to deal with.
So I signed up to NaNo 2016. Because, apparently, I have too much time of my hands. What with fixing my editor’s changes for Teach Your Heart, then my proofreaders changes, formatting, marketing, plus Miss Almost-16 with her first major school exams in November and Christmas–oh my goodness, let’s not go there. But no worries, mate, as we say Down Under.
Somehow I also ended up starting a FB group for other like-minded New Zealand romance authors who want to have a crack at NaNo, and I think we’ll keep each other motivated. Nothing like the combination of a little peer pressure, healthy competition, cheer-leading and butt-kicking as required to keep one’s butt in a chair in front of a computer.
Why am I telling you this? Accountability. ‘Cause I know I’ll have to fess up to you guys at the end of November if I haven’t written my 50K on Saying I Do. I’m pretty sure there’s a few of you who’re looking forward to Joe and MacKenna’s story! Now I have 3 weeks to get myself organised.
Rhonda Brant