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| NaNoWriMo is a non-profit which, every November, encourages the world to bring their novel dreams to life, by writing 50,000 words in one month. I've done the challenge once before - and won it! - and am looking forward to trying again this year! However, as you'll soon find out, I've had a couple setbacks so far... |
Being that it is currently the 15th of November - officially marking us as halfway through the month - you should be unsurprised to learn that I've been scrambling all morning, trying to work on my NaNoWriMo project for this year.
What might surprise you, however, is the fact that my current number count is just over 2,000 words. Total.
Two things have presented themselves as pretty significant roadblocks to my progress thus far, the most significant of them all being that I spent a total of eight days - from the 1st of the month through the 8th - steadily working myself into a sugar coma at the Happiest Place on Earth (East Version).
That's right: right of the bat, I lost a week of writing time, due to living it up in Orlando, Florida, at Walt Disney World, with a best friend who ditched me for sunshine and the Disney College Program as soon as we graduated. Who's got time for writing, when Pirates has a 10 minute wait line and there are still Dole Whips and Mickey Pretzels left uneaten?
The second hurdle I encountered was a lot less fun than a Disney trip, though: I spent the weekend doubled over in pain, in bed, and drifting in and out of sleep, due to a painful ovarian cyst that decided the perfect time to make itself known is when I actually have things to be focusing on (to be fair, I am wildly thankful it didn't rear its ugly head when I was, you know, in Disney World). So, scratch a couple of days off of my tally due to severely limiting physical circumstances, too.
As you might imagine, this is all taking a severe toll on not just my writing ability, but the faith I have in myself that I'm even going to get this thing off the ground, let alone to 50,000 words!
In the lingo of NaNo veterans, I'm a planner, not a pants-er, which is why all of these hurdles are enough to send me into a tailspin. With my 2014 project, Dead Beat Reporting - or, as it was known when it was still in the process of being written, Blood Read - I had a full, complete outline before I'd ever set fingertip to keyboard... but with Hit (this year's more compactly-named project), I mostly just have a collection of world-building ramblings, and the optimistic intention of just seeing how things play out. It makes me nervous.
Still, I think I can swing it. I've done this before, and I've got a lot of info still in my brain that just needs to be written down to paper to prove that I've got it. I've got a couple of weeks left until the end of the month, and if I can just manage to convince my family to leave me the hell alone for a couple hours out of each day, I'll have enough maneuvering room to catch up after such significant setbacks!
Besides, according to my sister, Delaney, "It's not like you're doing anything better right now."
In case you're curious, here's the cover art and story background for Hit:
Stalked by the paparazzi, targeted by obsessive fans, hacked by online criminals... no one has ever said that being a celebrity was comfortable. Sometimes, it turns deadly. However, even when a star dies, that may be when they shine the brightest, their fame only heightened by their tragic demise.
That's why Hollywood's hit makers, have started hiring hit men.
An assassin for the Hollywood elite, Guy is tasked by studio executives with endangering the lives of their famous clientele for media exposure and monetary gain.
A disgruntled former employee of a production studio, Woody was only ever looking for revenge on the boss that ruined his life... definitely not the spotlight.
A Southern beauty dragged from the wrong side of the tracks to the international stage, Leanne is going to have to ditch the name, the fame, and her domineering pageant Mom, if she's going to outrun a Hollywood hitman.
In this satirical take on the frightening future of celebrity status, 24-hour media culture, and our relationships with the rich and famous,15 minutes of fame has turned into 15 seconds. When everyone's hunting for the "next big thing," how long can you stay hidden?
Pretty cool, right? If you liked it, feel free to find me on NaNo and be my writing buddy! Because, let's be real: this year, I need all the help I can get.
Have you ever been a part of NaNoWriMo before? Would you consider doing it in the future? Let me know, in the comments below!
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