It is October 31st, known to most as Halloween, but known to insane writers everywhere as the night before NaNoWriMo. That's right, National Novel Writing Month is standing tiptoe at my door and I am, at best, unprepared.
Last year I did all sorts of things to prepare for a crazy month of writing. This year I have done nothing. Last year my plot came to me in a dream. My dream life has been overactive as usual, but nothing worth putting on paper. In short, I am skint.
Last year I was a NaNoWriMo winner, meaning I cranked out 1,667 words a day for 30 days for a total of just over 50,000 words. I'm not saying they were interesting words or that my novel was any good, but I crossed the finish line and that's what counts.
In cycling there is a term for people who do not cross the finish line. It is DNF, as in Did Not Finish. It is the most shameful of acronyms. I know this because I DNF'd once. After a nasty sports drink incident, I found myself puking in front of scads of teeny tiny soccer kids, but even that was not as embarrassing as the DNF that appeared by my name.
So as I sit here on NaNoWriMo Eve, I am determined to win again, to outrun the dreaded DNF. And I need your help. Yes, you, the one averting your eyes and trying to click away from here. Here's how you can help: For the next month I need you to leave stuff in this post's comments section. Stuff like:
- names
- places
- snippets of conversations you overhear
- links to articles you find interesting or entertaining
- favorite quotes
- stuff your pet does
- stuff your parents say or do
- stories from your childhood
- weird stuff your friends do
- words you love
- words you loathe
- songs I should add to my writing playlist
- anything and everything else that comes to mind
I am confident that with your help I'll be able to pound out 50k words by November 30th and instead of a horrid DNF appearing by my name, it will instead say WINNER. There's a certificate and everything.
I. Must. Have. It.
Lots o' love,
Alicia
Clever move, Alicia. I'm at an equal loss. Hm...what to do, what to do..
ReplyDeleteHere you go:
Place: Ord Bend. Dubuque. Winnipeg.
Name: Sophie. Cousin Charles. Alfie.
Words I loathe: "or whatever."
Words I love: "Willow."
Pet antics: The 50 pound Penny, a wiry mutt who thinks she is a lap dog and climbs onto any empty lap she sees.
Enuf. Don't want to water down the wonderfulness with drek. XOXO Lynn
Thanks, Lynn!
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