Writing Update

My reading and blogging have taken a step back because of 1) stress and 2) not exactly doing NaNoWriMo, but I started writing a new novel just to try something different on November 5th and though I would just keep track of the progress on the website for fun. I'll be pretty happy if I hit 5,000 words

It's a children's/middle grade contemporary realism story about growing anxiety and perfectionism, and probably also about growing up. While I have a general sense of the character arc, I honestly don't know a lot about where I'm going to make it a complete novel, but I've found that I work better that way. It's not the easiest to write quickly, but because it's less restricting I tend to write more that way.

And, well, I can never resist jumping in to a story!

So I just realized it's NaNoWriMo

That's National Novel Writer's Month, by the way. I'm not participating of course - it's 10 days in already, I don't have the time, and I need to focus on editing my existing work (which is coming along nicely, if I might say so myself).

For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a novel in a month, and it happens every November. There's an online site here, and the Young Writer's Program part of the site is here. I've heard of it before - someone who attended the same house we did for Thanksgiving in the town I used to live in would participate eery year - but I've never even thought about participating, and I'm not sure I ever will. Aside from the fact I've got school, I don't think I could ever just write, as fast as I can, without regard for editing or planning. And yet there's something rather irresistible in just being able to write. Heck, I haven't just written something long in years, because I've been editing. Sometimes I just want to look at a blank piece of paper or screen and write.

And so far all those participating, I salute you, and envy you.