nanowrimo reflections of a creative challenge: My Prep

Nanowrimo

So, I accepted the challenge to do nanowrimo. Janice was the one who suggested it to me because her good friend wanted to do it too. I also convinced my buddy Dave to do it with me. And at about this time, Freesia, my penpal of over 30 years announced she was doing it too. So, I now had my own group of four people doing this with me.

My insecurities were very high. I did not think I could do it. I considered the daily target of 1,667 words and the overall goal of 50K. I know myself, I know that I can write way more than 1,667 words in a single session, but I also work in fits: 5,000 today and then nothing for days. I also had no ideas of a story which needed writing.

I write a good many short stories. I try to write about fifteen of them a year. I had figured on writing three more by the end of the year at the time I signed up for nanowrimo.

In a small way, those last couple of weeks of October I knew needed practice. I used my short stories as a study of how I might work. On the nanowrimo site, they have a “word sprint” function. This is a great function. Just type in the amount of time from one minute upwards (I did 45 and 60 minutes) and start sprinting. I wrote two short stories like this and all five of the November blog posts. This word sprint was a great confidence booster for me.

I read though forums, watched Youtube videos and listened to the podcasts. People suggested all sorts of advice from playlists to chocolate. I listened, read or watched intently. Good advice, but ultimately, not good for me. What I needed was a story, lots of conflict, a few characters and a locale.

For those of you who know me, either personally or from my writing and films, location is very important to me. I have written Denver, Tucson, Mexico City, Ansbach and Portland. All these places I know intimately, emotionally or geographically because I have lived there and still do on some levels.

In the final days leading up to November 1^st, I chose three things: place, character and initial conflict. Over the next few days, I developed a dozen other conflicts and a few scenes that I wanted t o write.

The most important thing was that I put my story in place and time. I chose the onset of winter, Portland, Oregon, present day. When it comes to Portland, I have set three of my former novels there and at least a dozen short stories. I regret the day I left Portland, both times. As close as I can be to heaven is in the stories I write.

All of those elements and exercises really made me excited for the project. I worked on a few thoughts. I thought and thought and thought. These where the things that really got me ready to work.

In the time before November 1^st, I went to a local kickoff party. This was a real interesting group of people. Even Janice thought so, and she is not as quick to judge as I am. This group of nanowrimo people was the sort of group you'd expect. I would say oddballs and weirdos or benevolent saints, but the truth is, it was a room full of writers. Writers, especially when you corral more than two in a room are fucking weird.

The group meeting and the “Write ins” I think are helpful to some people. I'm a very introverted person and I'm forced into mixing with others and even being nice to people in my daily life. Being a part of a group is very difficult for me.

I must admit, on Sunday October 29^th, the group kickoff did make me ready to write. I felt prepared and capable when I left the meeting.