Making Dreams Come True

Starting sometime before we can even grasp the idea that one day there will be more to life than coloring and playing, we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up. And this usually changes as we grow and are introduced to new things.

I’m proud to say that in over two decades, my answer has never changed. I’ve always wanted to be an writer, to spend my life, reenacting my imaginary friends’ lives. I am however, ashamed to report that while I’ve written, typed and scrawled MILLIONS of words, not very many people have had the opportunity to meet my friends.

About 10 years ago during my senior year in high school, I was interning with a fellow local writer. My beloved mentor, Kerry was her name, enlightened me on the amazing idea of NaNoWriMo. For those who have never heard of it, that’s short for National Novel Writing Month.

I remember thinking how amazing it would be to finish an entire novel in just a month. But, alas, there weren’t enough hours in my day. I was actually surprised I was able to fit potty breaks into my life that school year.

Then the year after that I was working three jobs and looking for an apartment that didn’t have mice and bullet holes.

And every year after that, I had a new reason why I couldn’t participate.

Not anymore. This year, I’m doing it. No, really, I am.

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo this summer and rocked that, so I’m fairly confident that I will be able to rock the real deal this November. All it takes is a bit of commitment. And who has more commitment than the girl who’s never wanted anything else out of life?

Knowing that I am most certainly NOT one who can go blindly into this (or pants it, as I’m learning is the unofficial term for such a thing), I have already begun my planning. For next month’s quest, I’m actually using an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a few years now.

Perhaps that’s cheating a bit, but since I haven’t actually sat down and written anything more than a vague plot idea, I’m calling it fair. Over the next 21 days, I’ll be building up the characters, and plotting out the story in a more detailed outline, so that I have a fairly good idea where the story is going to go.

In July I discovered that writing out of order, with whatever scene was in my head at the moment, instead of going at it sequentially, was a lot easier for me. It kept me from getting stuck as easily as I normally.

Don’t get me wrong, I went through what is known as the second week crisis. That first week or so was amazing. I was writing more than my minimum daily goal every day and I was flying through. Then about Day 15 came around and suddenly, I hated everything I’d written. It was crap. I was crap and I wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and cry.

But, due to having parental responsibilities (which include not going completely crazy) I was forced to stick it out and ended up falling back in love with my characters just in time to reach the 35,000 word goal I’d set for myself.

My plan is to utilize the resources I’ve discovered since then. Twitter, the NaNo website, and various communities that I’ve stumbled into. I also plan to motivate myself by sharing my journey. I’m going to try my hand at my first ever vlog. I will start it on October 30 on my YouTube channel and I will post a video at the end of every week and then a final video on December 1.

I will also continue my story through this blog. So, please tag along. Perhaps I can help motivate you while I’m pushing myself!