It's that time of year again. November is coming, friends, and we all know what that means: we're planning chapters, deciding what obscure jokes we want to make, brainstorming titles, and trying to figure out how in the world we're going to make time to write 50 thousand words in scraps of free time we don't have.
If you're anything like I was when I was 14, you probably think that this isn't for you. Actually, though (and feel free to disagree), I think it is. I think you could do it.
In fact, I think you should do NaNoWriMo. I think you should go for it. Here's why: you definitely, absolutely, assuredly can.
"Okay," you say, "but you don't understand. I don't have any free time at all, ever." Okay, friend, point taken. I get it. I get up at seven every morning and work until about midnight. I'm a triple major in my fourth year of college. I'm getting ready for a senior recital. Trust me, I know what you mean. That said, I don't think that's a reason not to do NaNoWriMo. The reason is pretty simple: you've got enough free time. You have to, actually, because if you didn't, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be sane right now. Take a moment to step back now, and ask yourself: what is a "light day?" We all have them: days with more free time, or potential free time, than others. So, then, we have free time. In math, we call that a corollary.
"Fine," you say. "I have some free time, but I sure as heck don't have enough." OK, that makes a little more sense. You make a good point. Time is limited, but we can't adjust the task to suit our schedules in this case, right? Wrong. Do you have a voice recorder? Anyone with a smartphone does. Step one: decide on a story to tell. Step two: turn on the recorder. Step three: talk. Turn it on before you drive somewhere alone and talk in the car. Turn it on and talk while you fold laundry or make dinner. Hold it and talk while you walk around the grocery store (anyone who sees you will just think you're on the phone). We speak over ten thousand words a day; a thousand more is nothing. Use a speech-to-text program and Conclusion: friend, you've got this.
"Okay," you might say. "But why? Why should I go to all this trouble to join a community of people who seem to be crazy anyway?" Well, friend, I can give you one good reason: no matter how bad your grammar is, no matter how many plot holes you leave in your wake, no matter how awkward and clunky your character development, no matter how contrived your dialogue ends up, no matter how great a distance is left between your story and print, you'll have a story to your name holding the plot, characters, ideas, manuscript length, and gritty dedication you need to cross the gap. Success, even messy success, inspires greater success, and no matter how far you are from finishing, you'll have the breaker waves behind you. That, friend, is an open door. Really, if you can win NaNoWriMo with that crazy schedule we were just talking about, can anything stop you?
