I’ve done a number of crazy things in my life and likely not enough of them so I have decided to write a book in the next 30 days! For the first time I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo. I’ll be joining more than 400,000 other writers worldwide, many who complete this event year after year. Best sellers attributed to NaNoWriMo include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Hugh Howey’s Wool. The goal, of course, is not to create a best seller (though I suppose it is every writer’s dream) but to complete 50,000 words of a single book during the month of November.
I am signed up at nanowrimo.org, purchased Scrivener and spent a good part of today building my Chapters and Scenes so that I am ready to write first thing tomorrow. 50,000 words in 30 days is 1,667 words a day and after having written a short document a few days ago, of only 587 words, I began to stress out over how very many words 1,667 will be, especially day after day. I have ideas, but do I have that many ideas – 50,000 words worth of ideas?
The basic concept of my book was originally non-fiction based on the experiences of my spouse and I in caring for his mother who has severe memory loss due to TIAs. Despite a career in health care and lots of reading and networking around care-taking for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s, we discover surprises over and over again. After a session with a book coach, I am choosing to write a fiction account of our experiences. I expect my writing will be mostly true, allowing for storytelling which is my true love.
NaNoWriMo does award any official prizes, however, anyone who completes 50,000 words is declared a winner. I plan to be a winner. Wish me luck!