NaNoWriMo

It’s that time of year again!

NaNoWriMo started today and goes through the end of the month. I love NaNoWriMo. I look forward to it and plan for it all year.

My first NaNoWriMo was technically in 2008. I barely wrote 20,000 words. In fact, I don’t know if I even created a novel on the website. There is no record of it. I can’t find the novel I worked on that year and don’t even remember what it was about.

2011 we had been in Uganda for almost two years and I had a 10 month old baby. I wanted to teach my kids creative writing that year and a friend told me about NaNoWriMo’s Young Writer’s Program. I went through it with my children that year and we all set out to write our novels. That year, my first “real” year of NaNoWriMo, I finished over 50,000 words by the end of the month. 

I’ve participated every year since and even a couple times during Camp NaNoWriMo in July. (Sometimes during Camp, I’ll edit a novel I worked on during NaNoWriMo.)

I splurged this year and got the 2016 NaNoWriMo shirt (and a mug, not pictured!). The Blast Off theme is so cool this year and I love the shirt! (I also love that it is warm enough to be outside in a t-shirt and shorts on November 1!)

This month, I set off on that journey yet again. 50,000 words (or more!). 30 days. Every year I wonder “Can I do this thing? Do I have 50,000+ more words in me?” Every year so far I’ve finished. This year, as I stand at the cusp of the month looking ahead to 30 days of work and creativity I say to myself…

Let’s do this thing!