It starts...

Happy November 1st! The first day of NaNoWrimo, the writing challenge that started it all for me. I think, had I known those five years ago what I'd been able to accomplish with my yammering, I would have started sooner. Am I anywhere near the goals I set out for myself? No, but everyday I'm getting closer, and that's what I have to focus on.

It seems every year I'm on the fence on if I actually want to jump into NaNo again. It's a challenge, and I've proved to myself that I can write 50k words in a month multiple times, so the challenge isn't exactly what it started out as for me, so why bother?

This year I've realized that's not the point.

I threw my hat of plot-ideas to one of my friends and let her pick one, not even bothering to set up my story until today. Creating a new Scrivener document felt like a chore, and then I had to name the damn thing. Ugh. That was the hardest part so far. Next step was to set up the outline, go over my notes and begin the long process of turning this prompt into an actual story.

So I wrote.

I passed my daily goal, finished out the scene and off I went to NaNo to update my word count. That's when it hit me. Seeing that old familiar screen, my daily stats up there so bright and shiny, and the sense of accomplishment that washed through me. I've been in editing mode for so long now, I've almost forgotten the joy of writing.

"A blank page was nothing but potential, pointless until it was used." 

~ Brandon Sanderson

So NaNoWriMo isn't a challenge, but an event. A month of reckless writing where I don't have to worry about editing, adverbs and punctuation. Where I don't have to flip back and forth between Ali's cynicism and Joss's naivety. That balance between the part of the world he only thinks he can save and the good Ali doesn't think she can accomplish. I know it's just me sitting at a desk for hours, working out these problems in my head, but it is exhausting work.

First drafts into a new story, new characters, new places are nothing but pure potential. A fresh journey I can walk with my brand new characters, a vacation a can spend away from TPC, and when I come back to Ali and Joss, it will feel like home.

And then I remember I wrote their POV's in first person.

Hello Darkness, my old friend...

Anyway. Enough writing for today. If you'd like to follow me on a different journey, I'm trying something a new.. and well.. a little scary. I've joined the NaNoWriMo community over at Tablo, and I'm posting a chapter a day of the novel I'm getting ready to release. The title isn't concrete yet, but what title ever is? (A hint at more scary things to come.)

Join me at Tablo!

Only 47,807 words left to go! Happy Reading!