Thursday, November 01, 2007

Answering the "Why?"

As I said in my last post, I've signed up for not one, but TWO writing challenges for the month of November. And even if none of you are wondering, I find that I, at least, am constantly wondering, "Why?!"

Well, let's start with NaBloPoMo, which I decided to do first. My first thought was that it might be fun, since I didn't do it last year. I would have, if my life hadn't just fallen to pieces around my ankles; at the time, however, I was doing all I could to keep myself from throwing in the towel (which I almost did anyway). I like blogging, and the idea of joining so many other bloggers in a post-a-day challenge seemed exciting.

Then, too, was the challenge of posting every day, since I'm currently posting about 2-3 times a week. The problem for me is not so much coming up with things to say - I have no shortage of ideas and thoughts and stories - but rather sitting myself down and writing them out. If I really want to consider myself a writer - and I do - then I need to work on perfecting my craft, and that means practicing. Lately, I've been letting myself slide too much in that area.

Which brings us to NaNoWriMo. When Sassy announced that she was doing it, it made me stop and think, "Why not?" Of course, I did have some answers. For one thing, I've never been all that interested in writing fiction. I love writing personal stories and waxing philosophical about my own thoughts, but the idea of creating new people out of my imagination is a bit daunting for me. And without that drive to create a new story, the idea of writing an entire novel in 30 days is extremely daunting for me.

But again, we come back to the idea that I've been slacking as a writer. I need some new challenges to make me really work on my wordsmithing, and NaNoWriMo is nothing if not a challenge. Even if fiction is not an area I want to pursue - and maybe it will be after this month - it's good to practice the writing that goes into it anyway. And the fact that there's a whole community of folks to support me while I sweat over this new work makes it a little easier to bear.

So here I am, November 1, embarking on the biggest writing challenge of my life. I promise all posts won't be about my novel-to-be, but there will be updates for those who are interested.

Here goes nothing...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Woohoo! A post a day!

What are you winking at in this particular photo of your cute face?

Anonymous said...

why are you so cute? It's just... wrong. no one person should have so much cuteness to herself. jeeze.

and yeah, i know. i'm already overwhelmed about my novel. holy crap. a novel! what was i thinking?!?!?

Anonymous said...

It occurs to me that there ought to be a NaShoStoWriMo for those who find writing 50000 words -- many of them not the same -- daunting. I guess it could be in February.

flutter said...

Look at that beautiful smile. Promise me you'll wear it more?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, beautiful picture! You are so damn gorgeous!

I'm looking forward to your post-a-day and don't envy you the novel experiene (pun intended). I've found that fiction writing is not my thing. But who knows... you may just surprise yourself!

We won't be surprised...

Guilty Secret said...

I'll be reading ;)

Mrs. Chili said...

I never had any idea that writing a novel is something I want to do, but I fully support anyone who does.

I'm looking forward to reading your NaBloPoMo entries and getting to know you a little better...

Yuriko said...

That sounds great! I saw the post a day on someone else blog and checked it out. :) Good luck on the novel writing :)

Kennethwongsf said...

After a month, you might look back on the collection of posts and find a plot, a character, or a novel buried somewhere in there. And that's when the excitement begins. By then, you already have your first draft -- which will be more than what some people can say about their book ideas.

Amanda said...

I've been thinking about you. I think this is quite exciting, perhaps it will really lead to something! Good luck, sweet friend.

Anonymous said...

Game on! I am weary already and I am not even attempting the novel!

Good luck missy moo.

Anonymous said...

Stunning picture!

Lara said...

interestingly enough, i didn't actually think there was anything all that great about that picture, except that the expression seemed to capture my "here goes nothing..." sentiment pretty well. but thank you to all who thought it was cute/beautiful. :)