Ok, by now the excitement and new-ness of NaNo is starting to wear off and reality is setting in. Since I started on Monday, I have written almost 6,000 words. Sounds great right? 

It is, I’m very excited about my story and how it’s progressing. I’ve found that setting the timer on NaNo’s “Word Sprints” challenges really helps me focus when I have super-short intervals -- of maybe 10 minutes here and there -- and I know I would otherwise be wasting time because it’s only 10 minutes. (Try it and see how much you can write in 10 minutes, I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised!)

This all sounds good, until, I looked at the little bar on the my NaNo personal stats page and noticed the little line that says “At this rate you will on ...”

Just the other day it said November 28. Excellent right?

That was then and this is now, today it says I will be finished December 5. Now I know I have the whole day to accomplish my writing, but even if I make it to 1,667 today - there is virtually no chance I will be able to do so tomorrow what with the Jewish Sabbath and some prior (happy, fun and scheduled a long time ago) commitments that are slated for Saturday night.

Does this mean I’m already doomed to fail at NaNo? Is it a failure if I finish on December 5? Will it matter to the universe if it takes me a few extra days to complete my story? Will the kids who read the third book in my series (which is my NaNo book) really know the difference when they hold the book in their hands?

That would be a big, fat ​NO! 
And that’s what I will remind myself when I look at my personal stats page and see that it isn’t moving quite as fast as I’d hoped. I need to be happy with the progress I’ve already made and the progress I will continue making. And even when the dreaded “boring, sagging middle” rears its ugly head, I will keep moving forward to the best of my ability.

And what if December 5 comes and goes and my story still needs work? Then, I’ll just close my eyes and imagine my readers sitting there reading the book once it’s done, whenever that is, and get back to work.

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I was inspired by all the people I heard from who said they are going ahead and participating this year and, so, I went and registered. I'm officially doing NaNoWriMo. I'm not sure how that will work out given other prior writing commitments, but so far so good.

In just two days, here's what I learned:

* If I don't sit and watch the news or YouTube and surf Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, I can get a solid hour of writing done before work. (Yes, I did already know this, but it's always good to have a reminder. )

* Sometimes the best laid story plans come with absolutely no warning.

* I am geniunely excited about what I wrote both yesterday and this morning.

* Knowing that hundreds of thousands of people around the world are also participating and making writing a priority definitely helps.


Here's what I'm still pondering:

* What happens when I have to take a break to fulfill my other writing obligations?

* If I don't reach 50,000 words, but still do a significant chunk of my new story will it still be a win? (I say yes, but you know ...)

 * What happens when the novelty of all this writing wears off and I'm left holding the pieces of a story that I can't make work?

So here's my pledge: 

I'm going to keep going as much as I can and not worry about what happens if. I will consider it an accomplishment that I've set this goal for myself and that I worked as hard as I could for as long as I could while still doing all the other things that need to be done each day.

I hope you'll join me and take this pledge.

And I'll also really appreciate my husband who will understand that NaNoWriMo may put a crimp in what I'm making for dinner for the next few weeks.

My word count as of this morning: 3,413.

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Yes, writing friends, it is that time of the year. Time to sharpen your pencils, flex your fingers and begin pounding on the keyboard as November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo.

If you've never heard of NaNoWriMo, the concept is simple: If you write just 1,666 words per day, every day then by the end of November you will have written 50,000 words--the length of a short novel.

Notice that I said the concept is simple, the acutality is a bit harder. After all, if you are going to write a novel in just a month you'll have to forgo some things (laundry, dishes, catching up on Netflix, etc.) and focus singularly on your writing.

Can it be done? Sure! Last year more than 40,000 people wrote at least 50,000 words. (More than 430,000 people worldwide participated in NaNoWriMo overall last year.)

Can you participate in NaNoWriMo without it being your ONLY focus for November? Yes. After all, we still have to deal with Election Day, Thanksgiving (just don't offer to host this year's festivities if you are participating in NaNoWriMo, it won't turn out well, trust me!), not to mention Veteran's Day, Black Friday and just, you know, your day-to-day life.

So when do you write? During your bus or train commute, while waiting in the pickup line for school dismissal, While waiting at the doctor/DMV or other appointment, before breakfast (yes, you will be getting up early/staying up later to get your word count in), on the train or plane for Thanksgiving with the family, before sitting down to said Thanksgiving meal, after you've spent way too much money on Black Friday. You write instead of going for your usual manicure. You write instead of leaving your desk at lunch hour. You write instead of going to the movies or out with friends on Saturday night.

In essence, you write anytime you can grab a few minutes during the day. (And if you have a flexible schedule that will allow you to write for an hour or two at a time, well, you are really lucky!)

NaNoWriMo does take a commitment, but as a writer you have to make the commitment and show up and do the work. Plus, it's a great challenge and a wonderful way to flex your writing muscles.

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If you read yesterday's blog you know that November 1 starts NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write every day for one month, allowing you to reach 50,000 words by the end of November and have a (short) novel-length story completed.

Yes, it may seem overwhelming, but it is definitely do-able and fun to try.   

If you are planning to try your hand at NaNoWriMo here are some things to consider:

1. Jot down some story notes now: 
Because of the time-crunch that is NaNoWriMo, it helps to have some sort of plan of what your story will be about and who the main characters are. You may also want to sketch out a few key scenes or major turning points in the story. 

Now, I know that some of you don't like to plot out stories in advance (neither do I), but in this case having even a very, very loose map will help things go smoother. Especially if you only have a short amount of time each day to produce the maximum number of written words.

2. Don't worry about perfection:
NaNoWriMo is not about finishing the perfect or even publishable manuscript. It is about getting words down on paper and creating a rough draft that you can later revise and rewrite. More importantly, I think, it's also about accomplishing something many people only dream about. 

3. You are not alone:
One benefit of NaNoWriMo is that you are not alone in this. Thousands of would-be writers, and quite a number of already-published authors, use this month to kick their work into high gear. Why not benefit from the vast number of supportive emails, blogs, workshops and more that exist for NaNoWriMo participants?

4. Public spaces will be open for "write-ins"
Coffee shops, libraries and other gathering spaces have gotten used to the fact that during November, writers will stop in and bury themselves in their work. Some have special hours where you can join fellow writers and just write the hours away.

The official NaNoWriMo website offers tips and inspiration to keep you going throughout the month. My own advice, don't think. Don't analyze what you are writing or what direction the story is going. Just go with the flow and the let the words unfold. NaNoWriMo is about stream of consciousness writing not award-winning, bestselling prose.

Personally I think the real benefit of NaNoWriMo doesn't rest in the idea that you will finish a book in a month, but rather that you will join a collective of writers all of whom are making their creative endeavor a key priority in their lives.

• They are standing up together and saying that their writing is important to them.
• They are saying they have stories they wish to tell.
• They are saying they are willing to try for their dreams.

So if you dream of being a writer why not join them and try? Don't feel like you MUST finish a book this month (though if you can that's amazing). Rather, designate November as "My Writing Month" MWM, set a goal for yourself and just start writing. 

I know there are people out there who can’t imagine writing short, tight narratives, just like I know there are people out there who can’t fathom wasting a single word and overwriting. I actually don’t fall into either of these camps, though, sometimes, I might wish I did.

As a journalist, I learned to write concise, tight stories that would fit in the confines of a set amount of space. Writing two columns of text meant exactly that. If I went over, the story and to be cut and cut and cut until it fit in the allotted space.

Did I ever go over the column count? Of course, plenty of time. After all, who among us doesn’t think every word we right is amazing. Thankfully I had very strong editors who could guide me back on track and also find the gems hidden among some blasé, cliched phrasing. And eventually I learned how important it was to consider what I was really trying to say and find the best way to say it and keep my writing on target. The end result were stories that may have been shorter in length, but not in their impact. (For more on  what makes your writing strong, check out The Elements of Style by William Strunk & E.B. White.)

Fast forward a few years and thanks to the Internet it seems one can just write and write and write. No longer held back by word counts or column lengths, writers and would-be writers and just about anyone can pontificate on as long as they’d like. While in some cases this can be fantastic, after all my preschool series for Chabad.org needed all the editorial space I could get, this is a potential problem spot for writers.

On the one hand, most people today live hurried lives. No longer will they sit down and savor a story that goes for 5,000 or 10,000 words. (No, I’m not talking about a book here.) In the era of same-day shipping and one-click shopping, our patience on a whole is short -- and so is our reading style.

That does’t mean you can’t occasionally write a longer piece. As I noted earlier, some stories desperately cry out for a longer length. However, before you do write a super-long piece ask yourself what you want to say in your story and if everything you’re writing is relevant to your topic.

If it is, and you really feel there’s nothing superfluous in your writing, than ask yourself if what you’ve written is a single article or perhaps a series of article centered around a common theme or idea. If it’s the former, then consider breaking the text up into segments using subheads, which are  a great writing tool that gives readers a natural break if needed. If it’s the latter, you may be doing your readers a disservice by trying to jam it all into one story.

However long you chose to write just make sure what you have to say is relevant, well-written and engaging. Ask yourself is this relevant to my main point, if it is keep it in. If it’s not, cut it out, file it away and consider it for a future story. No one said a unused tangent can’t become a salable story in its own right.
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