So things are a bit crazy– Middle of the semester for school, Franken-storm, and most exciting of all… NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!! I hope everyone else who’s planning on getting involved is as hyped as I am. I’ve been planning my novel for about three months now, and I’m so excited to finally be writing. The antici-….
-pation was killing me.
After failing miserably last year, I’m ready to get back in the game and get at least a few thousand words written this time, as opposed to several disconnected paragraphs that went nowhere. I’ve got my plot down, I’m finishing up character sketches, and I can see the settings quite clearly in my imagination. The only thing to do now is let the words flow onto the page (even if those words happen to be, “Alright, now I’m stuck…”).
In psyching myself up for the event, I’ve been searching for the perfect play list on an application called Songza (look it up, it’s fantastic and free!). I’ve settled on Epic Film Scores, which includes a wide variety of scores from composers such as Hans Zimmer and the legendary John Williams, spanning movies from Braveheart to Lord of the Rings to Avatar to Star Wars. Not only do these songs please my inner musician, but they also provide a non-invasive soundtrack for some intense and inspired noveling. Not interested in listening to the Batman soundtrack over and over again? There are plenty of other ways to choose music that suits you, from genre to mood to the activity for which you need background music. Unfortunately, noveling isn’t actually an activity, but beng creative, working, and studying are. Shout out to my friend Joey for suggesting this wonderful little app.
Tea and coffee have also been a staple. I started writing last night around 12:30, and since then I’ve had three cups of tea and two cups of coffee. It’s going to be necessary to keep this steady influx of caffeine going, I think, if I want to finish and entire first draft of a novel in 30 days…
I’ve also got a great support group this year, both in Wordsmiths and in friends who are joining the insanity with me and cheering me along. My amazing boyfriend decided to fit writing a novel into his already over-packed schedule. He even bought me a cute little NaNoWriMo flash drive bracelet for Sweetest Day so I can save my budding novel and carry it with me always. He’s a wonderful guy. Several friends at BW are getting involved as well, and hopefully one of them, a regular customer at the Smoothie Bar, will give me some inspiring words when she comes by, as I’ll try to do for her. Hopefully this support will keep me heading toward 50,000 words.
I’m super hyped to really dive in to my novel. Even if I don’t make it to 50,000 words by the end of November, I’ve already gotten more done than last year. I’m even going to really go crazy and try to get more blog posts up this month. November is going to be a month of total writing immersion. Anyone wanna join me?
If you’re interested in trying your hand at NaNoWriMo, head on over to http://www.nanowrimo.org and sign up!
Write Up Review 
Write in silence…or stop playing music with lyrics while writing…you’re killing me!!!
I often find that music’s great for writing; whether it makes you want to sing along or not, it’s always great for getting you thinking. I made do sitting in the library listening to some plain piano music, and apparently I got some words done, so it worked :).
Good luck for the rest of NaNoWriMo!
Thanks a lot! Music helps me focus most of the time, and also helps get the ideas flowing. It’s a really great tool for me. I appreciate the read 🙂 Good luck with your writing as well!