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NaNoWriMo is back! 

“What is NaNoWriMo?” you ask.

Why it’s the National Novel Writing Month! The goal is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. This works out to be 1,667 words per day!

“Huh?” you ask. “Is that a lot?”

Well, a chapter in one of my novels averages 5,000 words and I can crank out when I am in the zone, about 8,000 words in an evening. So, for me, 1,667 words is not a lot. Relatively speaking. Except: I procrastinate. Sadly, I will put off writing for a week and then try and play catch up with feverish intensity.

Participants know NaNoWriMo can be intense and frustrating and scary, at times. The happy news is that I am a member of the Ottawa NaNoWriMo branch. We meet throughout the month at cafes and we encourage each other. I attend the Barrhaven meetups near me every Monday night in November. The ladies are wonderful and I find I can find focus. You want to meet me? Come out to the Ottawa NaNoWriMo meetups on Monday night in Barrhaven, Nepean. I’ll be there!

By the way, I did this last year for my fourth novel, Freamhaigh and I attribute NaNoWriMo with allowing me to release the novel in April this year, when normally I don’t publish until late May – July. So thanks, NaNoWriMo!

If you are a writer looking for inspiration and need that extra push, then I recommend NaNoWriMo. It gives you a structured goal and rewards you with badges and qudos from fellow NaNoCrats. All that we creative souls need to thrive is love and adoration!

This year I am starting NaNoWriMo with over 20K words already written of my fifth novel, Cill Darae. This means that I will, by the end of November, have over two-thirds of the novel completed. That makes me happy, but I am counting my chickens, aren’t I?

So Happy November, folks!