NaNoWriMo

Ah, as October thunders toward its conclusion, I am gearing up for another year of Nano.

November is National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo for short, or...Nano for short..er.

The object is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, starting November 1 and stopping November 30.  The short time forces more writing and less second-guessing.  The first year I did it, 2006, I finished with a week to spare, which was good because we left Thanksgiving Day for Disney.  The next year, with less on my mind, I managed to squeak in.  In 2008, we spent the last 2 weeks of November in Florida, so I did not even attempt.  Last year...the month came and went and I ignored it. 

So, this year, I am ready to give it another go, I have a few ideas and most importantly for myself, names for my main characters.  Naming people and writing conversation are my 2 big ordeals.  If the names are perfect, I can write the characters.  My first story was about a young single mom, Magellan, who found herself knocked up and in a bad situation.  It was totally biographical, a rip-off of my own life.  It was like bloodletting, it was painful and it brought back all those memories and fears and in the end, freed me like nothing I could have imagined.  All that bile and fear and pain and just general pissed-offed crap poured out until what was left was clear, thought through, seen from older eyes and finally, filed away, done with. 

I love Magellan and her son, Journey.  I think about her now and then, wonder how they are now.  Yes, she was born of my experiences, but she was smarter than I was at 21, she had me at 32 to smooth a few paths and leave out a few details that were painful at the time and amounted to nothing later.  It was like talking to myself from the future and being able to reshape what was relevant and hang on to the important stuff.

I am getting excited, trying to organize a few ideas without doing myself in with too much planning.