NaNoWriMo

In the interest of full disclosure, the post you are about to read will be a bit nerdy...carry on if you like.

I like how-to books.  Give me a list step by step on how to do something, break it down into simple steps, and don't bog me down with minute details. And I will more than likely follow through. :)

I just finished reading No Plot, No Problem! A Low Stress Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty.  Check it out here.

This book is a step by step, bare bones approach to writing a novel in 30 days.  Crazy right? Well apparently many people do this every year in the month of November. It's called National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo.  My husband says this is the worst acronym in the history of acronyms...but I kind of like it.

I have tried writing a novel several times...but I get bogged down in constantly going back and editing what I just wrote until I am so frustrated that I stop writing.  Well this book asks you to take a different approach.  Write, write, and then write some more...but whatever you do, do not go back and edit.  Editing is for later. The goal is to get 50,000 words down on paper in 30 days.  You can do all the revision you want later on but the goal for that one month is to get a novel written.  It may suck.  It may totally be crap.  It probably will embarrass you when you go back and read it. But the idea is that it is much easier to edit something that is already written down.

So I have been considering taking this approach and trying to write a novel in 30 days.  But I can't do it in November.  I start caroling with the Doorway singers in November. (Yes I said caroling.) My husband and I go out of town for Thanksgiving to visit family. I can't imagine writing during the holiday especially in a turkey coma. My birthday is in November which means no extra work for me!  I know...excuses excuses...But the book does mention that you can pick your own month for writing. I'm not sure which month would work the best...maybe a summer month?

Writing a novel has always been on my bucket list. Not that anyone will ever want to read my novel...but I want to write one anyway. It's a challenge to me.  Some people put their bodies to the test by running a marathon or particiapting in Tough Mudder...but not me...I want to write books. :) I am such a nerd.

I think everyone has things on their bucket list that they want to cross off. There are also things to cross off that I didn't know were on my bucket list.  For example, I went to Tibet and ate lamb lung.  I never thought this would be a bucket list item but lo and behold...I ate something in a strange country that tasted like mucus.  And I lived to tell about it!

I am trying to be more intentional about my bucket list so as to experience life to the fullest while I am here.  What sorts of things are on your bucket list?  I would like to hear from you to see if you are as nerdy and weird as me. :)