Nanowrimo: November is the longest month

Me at the end of this month.

I love November. It's getting cold and chilly, which gives me an excuse to wear coats and hats and scarves and boots and mittens-- LOVE it! And the snow hasn't stuck yet so I can still go running outside--it really is perfection.
This month however, for the first time, I am participating in Nanowrimo. Sound intimidating? It is.
It's short for National Novel Writing Month, and is essentially a challenge to writers everywhere to write 50,000 words in one month.
At first, it was easy. I breezed through, I got ahead of my word count, even! If you were to keep up with the program's plan, you just had to write a little under 1700 words a day which, for you page counters, is something like 3 pages double spaced. I think. Anyway ya, it was easy, I was having a blast, and I wrote a crap-ton of words, one day even getting up to 4,000 words, no problem! I got super excited, and I texted all my friends like, "Yo homies, my first draft is going to be done BY THE END OF NOVEMBER!" You know, rather than by Christmas or my Birthday in February as I had anticipated.
Well to old me, (Jessica of a week ago past) I say this. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. It's been just a week, but I finally started to need those annoying pep talks the Nano organizers were sending out. They have this weird obsession with coffee and cats on there, which I didn't understand until sometime around midnight last night after taking one of several awful midterms...and now I hang on to their every encouraging word. Sad.
So moral of the story, I learned writing is hard. Aaaand it's not at the same time. But mostly it is. You need time, focus, and discipline, which are all somewhat rare commodities in my life. But when you get going good, it can be really really fun.

Me hidden away in the library as I write. Good times.

I've learned again that nothing comes out exactly right the first time I spew it onto the computer, and if I am going to write well, I have to have the story going on in my head like a movie while I write at the same time. Well, if I don't sit in complete silence with no friends and no internet and get the movie going, then nothing happens. Therein lies the trouble.
It will be nice to get to Thanksgiving break, and sit down with some time to myself to unwind, and let my story start becoming the only thing on my mind again. It will be nice not to have appointments to meet and other priorities and overall, just a chance to catch up on word count.
I love Nanowrimo. By the end I will have written in one month as much as I had written in the entire year previously so, ya, I guess you could say it's a big deal! I will be stoked to have everything just out and down on my screen, ready for revision. Then I can get to the real work, of honing and refining the work of art that I hope and intend for it to be.
Until then, I will be here, word-barfing garbage out onto paper by the bucket-load, hiding away in my apartment growing fat and pale until the end of November when I will emerge at last... victorious. If you need me...text me, I may answer. In a week or two.
Thanks for reading!