Nanowrimo

I’d like to do a bit of a shout out to all those people that started Nanowrimo today. They have ahead of them a month of pain and despair, of joy and triumph, of tears and laughter, of surprise and dead ends.

They will wear their fingers down to the nubs over 30 days, pull their hair out, bang their heads against the walls and punch the air with their fists! They will drink copious amounts of coffee and red bull, eat tons of chocolate and order enough take away to feed a small nation. Collectively they will type or write millions of words and quite possibly even invent some new ones. Together they will pace enough steps to circumnavigate the globe and on the quiet they will shed over a million tears of frustration and joy.

During this month they will distance themselves from friends and families. Instead they will gather with strangers in cafes and pubs around the globe. Huddling over pieces of paper and laptops, whispering advice, offering condolences and handing out encouragement.
They will lock themselves in bedrooms, spare rooms and bathrooms to find peace. They will turn music up or down, hide TV remote controls and go to any lengths to find quiet.

They will focus all their energies onto one task and in doing so will become writers.
Those that can go the distance, stay on track, hold to their purpose…they will become novelists.

Last year there were over 79,000 participants from countries all over the world, 13,000 of which crossed the finish line with 50,000 words or more. In the corners of blogs and websites across the internet you will come across tiny icons with the words “Nanowrimo winner”. These are the people who stuck too it and wrote through all the pain coming out the other end of November with a real, live novel.

For the past three years I have proudly been one of them…but sadly not this year. I want to, I really do. I feel like I’m letting the side down. I feel left out, unloved and alone. I could still start now despite no preparation (ok so I’ve been thinking about this idea for the last month) BUT I have to be strong. I have a course to finish and I know how disappointed I’ll be if I don’t achieve this. So the choice had to be made and I can live with it although today is hard.

Of course nothings going to stop me fine tuning my idea and holding my own Nanowrimo in March!!