Here we go...

Okay, so you all know I decided almost on a whim to do NaNoWriMo again this year. I guess every other year is going to be my thing? Anyway, since I decided to do it on a whim I had no work in progress that I was chomping at the bit to start. I sort of fooled myself in to thinking that if I left it to the back of my brain I would miraculously wake up on November 1 with an idea on what I wanted to do. Nope.

So I sat. And I stalled. And I thought about it.

The first time I did NaNo I worked on Practical Magic. Do you all remember that one? It was going to be this WONDERFUL novel about a mother and daughter and magic and people living with it and without it and there was a mystery and it was all based on a super weird dream I had with John Waters in it and...okay, so anyway...I did 50,000 words towards that. And then promptly ignored it for a couple of years.

Then the second NaNo bug bit and I decided to work on Practical Magic again. This time tidying up some weird threads and actually trying to corral it back in to a story, but also adding in some short stories just to keep motivated to write. All fiction words counted. So I did about 50/50 novel words and short story words but again, hit that 50,000 mark. Maybe not exactly in the spirit of writing a novel but it was partly toward a novel so it totally counted.

Now we have today. And I look at what I want my NaNo goal to be. Sure their built in goal of 50,000 words toward a novel is a good goal. But is it my goal? Not really. What I really want to use NaNo for is to get me to sit in the chair and write. I want to write at least 2-3 hours a day. I want to really get in the habit of treating my writing as seriously as I think I could. My friend Dana reminded me that that is how I turned the corner with working out. I turned my gym time from a "I should" to "I do" I do this thing because it's something I do. I work out like it's my job because if I don't I pay a heavy price physically. So it's my damn job to make sure my joints stay moving and my weight stays under control and my muscles don't deteriorate. I work out because it's what I do.

I write because I love it. But I also write because it's what I do. I write. I have things to say. Fiction and nonfiction. I have stories I want to tell you. Things that are important to me that I want to share and worlds that are in my head that I want to get out. So this year NaNoWriMo for me is not National Novel Writing Month, it's Naturally Now Writing More. Okay, so that's totally lame, but they already have the NaNoWriMo set so I'm trying to work with it. But you get the gist. I'm using it to get in the habit of writing 2-3 hours five days a week plus an hour on weekends. Habits need to be built.

And, honestly, the fact that I followed the rules one time is pretty amazing isn't it?

So here we go. All words count. Fiction. Nonfiction. Short Stories. Character Studies. And that means that you will get most of them on the blog. So prepare for a busy month. And hopefully a busy year ahead! My NaNoWriMo becomes your NaNoReaMo!