Photo Credit: CommonZed (Flickr.com) Used under CCL
Hey everyone!
Sean and Anthony, your friendly neighborhood Southern Illinois National Novel Writing Month Municipal Liaisons, here ready to remind you that NaNoWriMo is just around the bend… provided that you make it through Halloween, of course!
It’s actually sort of fitting that NaNoWriMo begins the day after we parade around in spooky costumes and beg our neighbors for sweets. There’s nothing that sums up the NaNoWriMo experience better than the idea of facing one’s fears of failure amidst massive rushes of sweet creativity (along with breaks for actual, literal sugar, of course). It’d be nice if there were a holiday on December 1st that was as appropriately fitting, but since there isn’t, some Wrimos wait a week, read their manuscript on December 7th and embrace Pearl Harbor Day as a testament to how they feel after reading over 50,000 hastily-written words.
Anyhow, it’s too early to think about any of that – for now, we’ve got to stay excited! Soon, we’ll all be clacking away at our keyboards, enjoying that initial rush of writing that comes with each November. Some will bang out 10,000 words on the first day, while others will struggle to get the recommended 1,667 words. Some will even wonder after a few hours of writing if they’ve committed themselves to too much this year.
But take heart! Week 1 is all about the initial rush of creativity followed by the realization that maybe this whole NaNoWriMo thing wasn’t such an easy idea to follow through on after all. It’s the week when many folks will fall away, but it’s also the week in which a lot of Wrimos will really start to find a groove for the rest of the month. It’s also a time when new friendships will be forged at write-ins, which are occurring throughout the week in our region.
And if you need some support, we’ve got plenty of resources for you!
>>>A Twitter feed (http://goo.gl/odXjQ)
>>>A Facebook group (http://goo.gl/ZiVaQ)
>>>A Flickr photostream (http://goo.gl/LeB3S)
>>>A Google+ Conversation (http://goo.gl/cNn5d)
>>>And, of course, the official NaNoWriMo forums for our region! (http://goo.gl/KhDdG)
We’ve also got a calendar with all of our November events set up (http://goo.gl/9N9k) and an email mailing list you can sign up for (http://goo.gl/KhxYM).
You should also visit the forums to post your first sentence this week. And don’t forget that we’ve got a Haiku contest going on the forums! (http://goo.gl/KhDdG). Be sure to enter your own NaNoWriMo Haiku. The winner gets something cool. We’ll take entries through the end of this week (November 5th) and announce the winner in our next newsletter.
Our schedule for Week 1 is below. But before we get to that, here are a few words of pseudo-wisdom we’d like to share:
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SEAN’S SOAPBOX
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I love the idea of time travel.
Of course, I realized a few years ago that it will never be possible in my lifetime to travel backwards in time; if I could, believe me, I’d go back to the Sean of about 10 years ago and knock his lights out for being such an idiot.
But we can (and do!) travel forward in time. In fact, I’m about to travel an hour forward in time this week as I head to Columbus, OH on business. There I’ll be sitting as the clock rolls from 11:59 to midnight, knowing that I’m a full hour ahead of you guys in Illinois and that I can technically write if I want to.
I won’t, of course; it’s not right to abuse my time travelling powers just to get some words down on paper. Plus, I know I’m going to gain an extra hour on Saturday night when it’s time to Fall Back out of this Daylight Savings Time nonsense. (Like many Wrimos, I intend to use that extra hour to boost my word count!)
Another way I’ve learned to put my time travel prowess to use is in considering how to best use my time for writing. You see, I’m very bad at sitting down and actually getting writing done, but I’m very good at losing track of time once I somehow manage to overcome my inability to write and start putting words up on my screen. I’ve gotten so good, in fact, that I have to set a timer to remind myself to come out of the world I’m creating and venture up to the counter at Starbuck’s for that hot chocolate I’d promised my wife I’d go buy her before I started writing.
What I’ve found is that 15-30 minutes is a great period of time for good, focused writing. Often, this is just enough time to get 500-1,000 words written down in a creative burst, but it’s not enough time to allow yourself to burn out creatively. You can then take a break, relax a bit, and prepare for the next session. If you sprinkle a few of these throughout the day, you can write 1,667 words easily.
Or, in my case, you can write 2,500 words, because I’m one of those crazies who’s shooting for the stars this November and writing 75,000 words in a little challenge we’re calling NaNoWriMore. (Ask me if you’d like details.) Which means I’d better take advantage of every temporal trick I can think of if I want to get this novel finished.
Except starting NaNoWriMo early, of course. I’ll start at 12:00 AM Central Time on November 1st with the rest of you.
Have a happy start to your novel, and good luck!
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MUMBLINGS, MURMURINGS AND RAMBLINGS, by Anthony
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As I’m writing this, NaNoWriMo is just over a day away and I can’t help it but to be excited. I’ve got my characters in mind and a loose plot. I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. I love the little surprises that November brings!
Hopefully you are getting excited too! While NaNoWriMo is an endurance marathon, it isn’t one where you should pace yourself. I encourage you to jump on that initial surge of enthusiasm and ride it hard right out of the gate.
The beginning of the month/novel is the easy part for two reasons: 1.) We generally know where the story starts. 2.) We are still fresh, well-rested, and excited.
Take advantage of this and rack up as many words as you can during the first week. This opening surge will get you a good momentum going and maybe give yourself a buffer for the rest of the month. Any extra words beyond the daily goal you finish out the week with, you are under strick orders to place in a box behind a thick glass door that says “Break in Case of Emergency.” These bonus words are not an excuse to slack off later, they’re there in case something unexpected comes up, like a twenty-four hour turkey coma.
I’m dying to pen that opening sentence, and hope that you are too! On November 1, I encourage you to share your first line with us on our regional forums.
One last thing: if you have never attended a write-in, consider coming to one this week. You may be surprised just how productive and fun it can be working with others.
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THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
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Please attend one of our write-ins! You’ll find that we’re a friendly bunch, and you’ll also find that those who attend write-ins are much more likely to finish their novels. Plus, we’ll be handing out some NaNoWriMo goodies at some of our write-ins, like fake tattoos and bumper stickers!
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
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5:00 – 8:00 PM: Write-in at Adams Brothers Coffee Shop in Greenville (HOST: Shane “bowenwriter”)
6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at Starbucks in Collinsville (HOST: Anthony “falseramona”)
7:00 – 9:00 PM: Write-in at Italian Village in Carbondale (HOST: Dave “hexgnome13″)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
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6:30 – 9:30 PM: Write-in at Denny’s in Glen Carbon (HOST: Eville Writers)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3
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6:30 – 8:30 PM: Write-in at St. Louis Bread Company in Collinsville (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
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9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Breakfast at the Pie Pantry in Belleville, IL
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Write-in at Belleville Public Library (HOST: Sean “SeanJJordan”)
We’ll have a meet and greet breakfast at the famous Pie Pantry in downtown Belleville, IL (http://thepiepantry.com/about.html) – there’s a breakfast menu and a buffet, as well as Starbucks coffee and delicious pie that you can take to go for the write-in.
If you are hosting a write-in and would like to get it on the calendar, please email seanATseanjjordanDOTcom and Sean will put it up for you!
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DENOUEMENT
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As always, you can find out more about our events on our calendar at http://goo.gl/9N9k
And don’t forget to check out our blog at http://soilnanowrimo.wordpress.com
We’d also love to see you on our forums! You can visit them by going to http://goo.gl/KhDdG
Good luck with your remaining NaNoWriMoing, and let us know if we can be of any assistance to you!
-Sean Jordan and Anthony Mathenia
Your friendly neighborhood Municipal Liaisons (MLs)
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