As you all know, the year has reached the time of brewing holidays, turkeys, breaks, and Christmas lists. It feels like just yesterday it was March, but it is now November, this leaving me in a lost state filled with the same repeating questions: What the heck happened to/in those eight months? And what on Earth was I doing? I have come to realize the older I get, the shorter time seems to become. Like how first grade seemed infinite and seventh felt like it breezed by like a hijacked nimbus-2000 (Yes, that was a Harry Potter reference, and yes I am grinning like the cat from Alice in Wonderland for coming up with that amazing simile). So, since time seems like its stuck on fast forward, this means that the month of November is zooming by at full speed and I am being trampled in its path.
November= National Novel Writing Month or is better known as NaNoWriMo. This is an annual event in which writers +13 dedicate the month of November to writing +50,000 word manuscript. So, basically you are attempting to write a whole novel in one month. This may seem challenging, but really its only 1,667 words a day…
…
Yeah, nope. NaNoWriMo is pretty stinking hard, especially when juggling soccer, school, homework, and other hobbies. This is the reason why my word count is sitting at a pathetic 1,247 when it should be standing at a glorious 15,003. I'm not prioritizing writing like I should. The truth is, I'm having a hard time committing myself to my manuscript, being tempted by so many little demons. I swear every time I sit down with fingers ready to stab the keys and an aura of confidence ringing with NaNoWriMo victory, my iPod lays there next to the computer just taunting me: "Moorrrgggaaannnn, you know you want to. Linkin Park and Evanescence are waiting to jam with you. You can't fail at listening to music like you can participating in NaNoWriMo. Ding, ding. Oh look, your old friends are texting you, you should really pick me up and talk to them. C'mon Morgan, I'm a better companion than your sucky novel, you know you want to hang with Mr. Amazing Apple Technology." Then writing goes out the window and I'm sucked into regretfully air-guitar-ing to Three Days Grace.
I also find myself struggling when actually writing along with attempting to write. You see, the whole point of NaNoWriMo is to write, this event isn't about creating a New York Times Best-Seller. It's just about getting words and ideas down and hopefully the editing will come later down the road. But, since I'm Morgan, I can't help but think that this "Just write even if its the crappiest thing ever written" concept doesn't apply to me. Its like when a teacher assigns a three paragraph essay that is due in three weeks and then looks straight at me, sending a telepathic message reading: I'm expecting a fifteen page masterpiece from you by Thursday because your Morgan and that is just what you do. So, my point here is that I can't get over typing words that aren't viewed as perfection whether the whole school is reading them or if they are scrawled across scraps of paper that only my eyes will ever see.
Ugh.
But the month is still beginning and I still have enough hope to say that a story will unravel eventually and that I will be able write to my satisfactory. I hope those of you who may also be participating in NaNoWriMo are doing better than I am and that you are achieving your writing goals.
Wish me luck,
Morgan
NaNoWriMo Website: http://nanowrimo.org