The Thrill of National Novel Writing Month
(NaNoWriMo)
By Sabrina Devonshire
I’m one of those nuts who work well under
pressure. Give me too long to finish a project and I give it half-hearted
unfocused attention. Light a fire under my behind and soon I’ve pulled one foot
under a leg only to learn four hours later I’ve cut off my circulation. The
adrenaline rush associated with creating something amazing in a short amount of
time nearly matches the thrill of winning a Masters swimming race for me.
Writing books has tended to be more pastime
than career until recently. I make a comfortable living at my day job as
fitness professional and also take home many freelance magazine writing checks.
But still, I wanted to publish a book badly enough that I traveled as far as
Prague for writing workshops. But I continued my intermittent pattern of
writing for a month or so and then not opening the manuscript again for weeks.
The competitive side of me broke out in hives every time another peer published
a book while I remained—in the world of book authors the equivalent of
pariah—non-published.
Most of my book projects remained
incomplete…until I met NaNoWriMo in 2012. In case you don’t know what it is,
NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org), takes place every
November, psyching up authors around the world so they can push the outside of
their writing envelopes and regurgitate 50,000 words on paper in 30 days.
Last October, Facebook friend Mark Biery
messaged me to ask if I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo with him. Keeping in
touch with another participate would help keep us motivated, he said. My first
reaction was no way. Then I recalled a novel I’d nearly completed, one I believed
was marketable. Maybe I can finally get it done, a voice in my head nagged. So
I fired a message back saying, “I’m in.”
From day one, I was gung ho. Setting daily
writing goals, looking proudly at my numbers at the end of each day, I pounded
away on my keyboard. Mark and I exchanged encouraging messages nearly daily. In
just two weeks, I finished my romantic suspense, The Open Water Swimmer. I spent the rest of the month reworking it.
Shortly thereafter, I landed my first contract with Extasy Books and the book
was released September 15th.
I finished a second book, Message from Viola Mari, to be released
in December or January, on a trip to Cancun during a five-day period I
committed to writing. I’ve found
writing retreats another effective method for getting quality writing done
under the gun.
This November, my NaNoWriMo project is
finishing the draft for my third book. I can almost hear the swim competition
starter saying, “Swimmers take your marks, go!” I’m high on the adrenaline
rush. I’m going for it, I know I can make it and I only have another 29 days to
go.
Thank you for sharing, Sabrina! It was great to have you here! ~ Blak Rayne
I'm happy you've found something that works for you, Sabrina. I'm wishing you tons of luck this November.
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