For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for national novel writing month. It is essentially a fun thing, and the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. It has been around for a couple of years, and this is my first year. It should be quite fun, in my opinion. So, anyone else going to try this/has anyone else ever tried this.
P.S. This year’s NaNoWriMo kicks off in 45 minutes or so where I live…
After seeing this post on 11/01, I decided to sign up for NaNo and try it – my, is it a lot of work! My muse is sure getting a work out, though. Right now, I’m at 9,235 words … which is about 10,000 behind where I feel I should be. 
Alex, how far along are you?
Any other … NaNoers(?) here?
I’m even more behind than you. I’m somewhere in the mid- 4000s, and I probably should be around 25,000 if I wanted to be on the pace. At this rate, it’s about 3000 words per day for me if I want to finish, and I really do, but I’m so busy. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to spend a lot of time on it during Thanksgiving, so hopefully that and some Mountain Dew will give me what I need to pump out my novel.
I saw this, and in my Literary Editing Practicum we were encouraged to try. However, I am more of an editor and I do very little writing of my own anymore. Good luck to you guys. 
I think it’s admirable that some of you are attempting this. I’ve thought about it a few times, but then I think about my half-finished novel, Resistance of Memory (about a person so tired of remembering every little detail of her past that she decides to fake amnesia). That bit of writing is just sitting on my computer collecting dust (okay, so unprinted word docs don’t really collect dust, but you know…)
For those of you having trouble keeping up with this, or for those of you who find it interesting but know you won’t keep up, you may want to consider starting with 100 Words It’s simple, 100 words a day, no more no less, for one month. If you make it, your entries get posted on their site. Entries can be anything, stories, poetry, journals, wild ramblings… anything. It’s actually been close to a year since I’ve done a month, but one day…
And never underestimate how important your writing can be! I received an e-mail the other day from someone who said they found the 100 words site and started participating because my writing inspired her to. She said she is really struggling with it because English isn’t her first language (though there are participants from other countries, most write in English), and she has a limited vocabulary but her goal is for her writing to one day be as good as mine. She’s also visited my web site and is now reading books I’ve listed as my favorites! And it’s flattering, but a little scary, because I don’t know if I’m ready to be an inspiration!
So write, write, write, write, write… words can be just as much fun to play with as gears and cogs…
Heidi
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Broken winged bird spreads his wings and dreams of flying. One wing flaps strong and steady, but the other wing, the mangled wing, barely stirs up a breeze. The setting sun turns the water to gold and the bird is left there, a dark silhouette, as all the other birds fly off.
Five minutes pass and he spreads his wings, his feathers blue in the fading light, to once again attempt flight.
He’ll never fly, not with a wing so torn and battered. But maybe his determination will inspire others to fly. To dream even when the situation is hopeless.