I’m prepping for NaNoWriMo, a frenetic month of non-stop writing aimed at producing no less than 50,000 words within the month of November. Having had a crack at this about ten years ago and being rewarded with caffeine shakes, a manuscript that has remained a bottom-drawer artefact and a vague sense of satisfaction, I’m up for it again. There are several reasons why this appeals:
It justifies an investment in stationery and procrastination
Given November is all about writing at a pace of 1,667 words per day, clearly I need to hold all of my actual writing until then, leaving these last few days of October filled with delightful procrastination planning. I’ve been drawn into the new era of the Bullet Journal, having invested in a nice notebook and vast amounts of time on Pinterest and Instagram perusing how others fill nice notebooks with plans, ‘spreads’ and charming calligraphy. My long-held respect for nice notebooks has seen me amass many and use very few given the impossibly high bar set for the quality of ideas and notes before I would allow them to mark the pages of a nice notebook. So I’m working with a second-tier notebook and only when I’m really comfortable do I write anything in the nice notebook. Very similar to the sentiment that rendered ‘formal dining rooms’ redundant as we all chowed down on meals that were only worth of the kitchen table rather than the ‘good room’.
There’s self-imposed stress
My academic and career life has consistently demonstrated the need for stress and deadlines in order for me to work hard. Given a deadline that feels achievable, I will somehow work very hard to avoid nailing it with time to spare and instead invest time in unrelated activities until the deadline becomes near-unachievable. The stress hormone cortisol appears to be my go-to chemical and my indulgence in stress-generating practices have kept the hypertension department of Big Pharma well-funded. So something about trying to triple the word count that I’ve accumulated over a period of about 6 months in a period of 30 days appears to be a challenge that was created with exactly my psyche in mind.
There are tools
When I first did NaNoWriMo I recall there was a simply internet-based check in that you could complete to log your word count. Now there are forums, hashtags, write-ins and all manner of new distractions from the task of actually getting the work done. I stand ready to indulge in all of these.
I’ve pre-joined Facebook groups. I have a sticker that hails me as a participant which will add to my stress levels via the fear of failure to achieve a publicly declared goal.
It’s the right month for it
I have a seven day jaunt to a health retreat booked, planned well prior to the notion of being involved in NaNoWriMo. Without needing to feed myself or anyone else and absolved of my fulltime job and all household chores I feel confident of using the time between Tai Chi and Tricep dips to churn out words. Melbourne also has our annual November holiday in our worship of a horse race, which falls on a Tuesday. This means virtually every self-respecting Aussie will take the Monday off to craft a four day weekend.
As will I.
So only half of November will involve actual working days which feels like it might be easier to nail this thing.
Given the guiding principles of quality over quantity during the phase, and armed with a second tier notebook crammed with ideas, I will give it a crack.
Stay tuned.