Journal: NaNoWriMo 2022 - November 2nd
Hello, My Friends!
I can’t believe it’s already NaNoWriMo and time to stop procrasti-planning and put action to my writing plans. I’m excited as well as a little bit terrified. I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I even minored in writing in college. But, I’ve never done it. I’ve never pulled the trigger on writing as either a passion project or as a career. (I should probably point out that I’m 50-something to put that into proper context.) I’d like to say there’s a lot of reasons for that - family responsibilities, job duties, blah, blah, blah. The true answer though is actually pretty simple: fear.
I used to be a good writer back in college. I was frequently complimented on my writing from teachers and fellow students, and I loved it. Both the writing and the compliments. Back then I never doubted that writing would play a central role in my life, whether as a profession or as a beloved hobby. I was wrong. Somewhere along the way, I lost it. I lost the drive. I lost the belief that I could, or even should, continue to pursue this craft.
A few years back I started questioning that belief, that I shouldn’t pursue my writing goals; that they were doomed to failure. But, it had been so long; my skills had rusted and everything I wrote was uninteresting, poorly composed and unworthy of even a personal blog. I was discouraged.
I have tried NaNoWriMo before - 4 times if you include a couple Camp NaNo’s - hoping that the challenge would help me create a daily writing routine; that the daily routine would re-awaken my slumbering talent and I could see at least a little bit of improvement by month’s end. Out of 4 NaNo’s I’ve finished exactly zero. None.
But I’m back again, trying one more time. I refuse to give up on this dream. Not again.
This year’s NaNo project is called “My Midlife Turn” the same as this blog. It felt appropriate. I’m not aiming for 50K words so apparently that makes me a NaNo Rebel - kind of surprising as I am confident that no one who knows me would ever describe me as a rebel. But, it is true, at least for this one month.
Almost 2 months ago I decided to start a personal blog, this personal blog as a place to learn how to blog and share my journey as I chip away at a few changes that I want and need to make in my life. All I have done thus far is to buy the domain name and pick a blog template. My NaNoWriMo goal is to draft as many blog articles as possible this month, and then edit and post one or two. I started the first article today.
In addition to the articles, I also plan to journal the experience and publish these daily (or near-daily) entries throughout the month. So, this is journal entry #1 - posted before I’ve even posted a single article. But, that’s okay as I’m sure it will be several months (many, many months) before anyone should happen upon this blog anyway. I’m okay with that…baby steps.
Lastly, I’m also in the midst of an online copywriting course, and I want to count that time toward my NaNo goal, too. So, I’ll do standard word counts for words drafted and words edited. Given that my average word count per half hour is around 500 words, I’ll track each half hour of copywriting study and practice as 300 words.
I am actually starting NaNoWriMo a day late - on Nov 2nd. It’s been a good day as I’ve gotten a lot done. I spent 3 hours this morning working on the copywriting course, an hour-and-a-half drafting and blog articles, and another hour working on this journal entry. Yep, it’s been a good first day.
I hope everyone who’s participating has had a good start on this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge. And I’ll see you tomorrow.
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