Lackadaisical Lolligagging and Laziness!

I realize that I may not have come through on my promises of more content, and that it's been roughly eight months since last I posted anything, but I am indeed still here, and I'm taking the time to post that I will definitely be more active in the coming month. Why? Well if you've read many of the posts on this blog, you'd already know! But for those of you who may not know what's going on, in less than thirteen days, National Novel Writing Month begins anew, with all the challenge and wonder.

Last year was a great success for me, as well as many others, and as such, I'm going to be again utilizing this blog to lay down some creative techniques and time savers so that your month runs as smoothly as it possibly can while still blazing down the path of noveling. Be you a pantser or a plotter, this blog will (hopefully) give you some good tips and tricks for keeping yourself on track and beyond. This year, I'm going to be doing something a little different as well.

You see, last year, around this time, I started up a challenge for myself for writing ten short stories in the span of the ten days before NaNo began. This year, while I'll be doing the same thing (and the post detailing rules and such will be coming soon), I'm also going to try and run challenges, word wars, and various other fun things to keep you guys both entertained and sufficiently focused on the task at hand during November itself. On top of this, I'll maintain my inspirational posts, so that even in the depths of despair, you may realize that it's not all at an end. So, ending off this short little "I'm still here" post, it's good to be back, and I hope you guys enjoy the ride!

50k and Beyond

Yesterday, I think I experienced my most successful day of writing ever. Not because I wrote a lot, or wrote some truly spectacular stuff, because I know I didn't do either, but because I sat myself down, amidst at least five distractions or more around me, and I wrote as if there were none. And because of that, I made it to the target of 50,000 yesterday. And, well, I'm pretty excited.

But there are still plenty of people out there struggling along in their novels this month, and that's okay too. I've said in other posts that word count does not mean everything, that sometimes you need to disregard some higher goals to get to where you want to be, and that it's good to take a small break every once in a while. But now we've reached the midpoint of November, and thereby NaNo, and many find that the game changes a little bit when this time rolls around. Late bloomers see their word counts soaring, stragglers begin to not straggle so much as they see the end of the month looming over them (or maybe not, I don't happen to know), and all over the world, novels begin to... well, end.

Maybe you are a late bloomer, making one of those heroic dashes to the finish line in style, as the final seconds tick down on the clock. Or maybe this year just wasn't your year, distractions and real life finding ways to get into your writing time and sucking it all away. Either way, if you're behind at this point, it's still okay. Today's advice is quite possibly the most important I can impart upon you guys: DO NOT GIVE UP. As long as you don't give up, there is still a great big possibility that you can pull out a win.

I have heard stories about NaNo winners who literally took until 11:58pm on November 30th to verify their 50k wins. There is no shame in such a thing, nor is there even shame in losing. Because you tried. You tried your hardest and either you came out on top, or maybe you didn't and fell short a bit. Either way, you're all winners because you simply attempted to write a novel this month.

But, whichever way you want to look at it, remember these words: do not give up.