Friday, November 2, 2012

NaNoRhinoPlumbNo Just No



November is a busy blogging/writing month. If you're on the internet, you'll be seeing websites displaying their badges, full of hope and proudly announcing "I'm doing NaNoWriMo!" and "Join me and let's NaBloPoMo!"

What the what the? as my 10-year-old likes to say.

The first time I heard about NaNoWriMo was three years ago, and I couldn't resist saying Nanoo! Nanoo! Shazbot! while snapping imaginary rainbow striped suspenders and thinking of chasing rhinoceros. I still can't help it now, because I'm like a sixth grader.

NaNoWriMo is short and dirty for National Novel Writing Month. You begin November 1, like formally sign in to a site that keeps your work on file, and you write a 50,000 word novel in a month. 30 days and nights of wild-eyed obsessed frenzy (or would that just be me) until you reach your goal of 50,000 words by midnight November 30. Starting November 25, you can send your words in to have your count verified.

That's National Novel Writing Month. Cute, clever.

The other busy writing collective for November is NaBloPoMo. This one, I can't help saying po' me--like a third grader, when I see it. Because turns out not only am I like a sixth grader, but a third grader, too. NaBloPoMo is a blogging project where you post on your blog daily, for the month of November. Starting November 1, mind stimulating prompts are provided--I think it's a good writing exercise. 

National Blog Posting Month. Because who doesn't want to hear from me 30 times this month. Tempting. I. Know--but I won't be nambopamboing your inbox.  

I would never knock the aspirations of the ambitious among us. Doing either of these November writing exercises is taking on a project that's win win all the way around. Kick start that novel you've had inside you since junior year in high school. Post every day for a month--it could bring your passion for the written word to a whole 'nuther level. I say try it. Try both. Just dooooo it 'n get in dere, as they say in Wisconsin.

But, knowing me better and longer than I know anyone else out there, the reasons to not NaNoWriMo my butt off, and to not get on the NaBloPoMo crystal ship, are based on how very well I know myself.

If I were to commit to 50,000 words a month for NaNoWriMo, that would be all I'd think about. I know. I just completed a short 4-part story on my blog last week, Red Flags, and while I was working on it, it became the only thing that ran through my cerebrum. And not in a dreamy, creative what if Bill actually wanted Susie and not Janet kind of way, but in a too far into that existence way. 

I was absorbed into the world I was tapping out here, and it made me silent in my real life. I didn't talk to my kids when I was up with them in the morning because I was too busy re-arranging paragraphs in my head. When I picked them up from school, I asked how their day was, and then mentally jumped back into the next part of the tale I was constructing here. My mind never stopped.

There was too much living going on in the non-real world and not enough in the real one. But that's who I was for that week.

Really, I don't know how Stephen King does it. How does he get Crazy Mary in his head to Shut.Up?

That's why I'm not touching NaNoWriMo. Not for any prize rhino.

On to why I won't post a blog a day with NaBloPoMo. It's not because I won't have anything to say or would be at a loss for prompts--oh you all don't know the RESTRAINT I show on this blog. If I didn't know how obnoxious it would be, I'd post more times a day than Gawker does.

I can't do NaBloPoMo because I'd be Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise, "somethin's come alive in me and I cain't turn it off."   

And there you have it: my reasons for not joining in on the fun. I know things about myself. 

I'd lose you guys over my verbosity, I'd lose myself, and there'd be less of me than there already is in this house for my sweet babies.

I am, however, excited and looking forward to getting some action from the bloggers out there that I wish would post more often. And I'm eager to read about the end stages of the process of both of these projects with all of you: I can't imagine it would leave anyone unchanged.

As a show of solidarity, I've got your badges up with y'all, yo. ::taps heart, kisses index and middle finger:: 





     










Peace Out. xo

***


Exciting news: thrilled to be featured on Studio30Plus today, with a love letter to my middle boy. If you're not already a part of the S30Plus community, think about joining up. They're an online writing community with over 700 members, weekly prompts, daily features, chats, writing exercises. I've found great blogs through the community there, like Abby Has Issues. 

In their words, "Studio30 Plus is a social media site for writers. By joining you can expect a vibrant, creative community established to help its members in countless ways."

Interested? Click on their FAQ Page.  

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60 comments:

  1. Heck no... I won't be taking either of those challenges! I have a hard enough time reading the blogs I follow and not getting behind, without involving myself in actually writing something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They both are tempting. I know I could do them, the problem is I'd waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay do them.

      xo

      Delete
  2. When I first started blogging, yup I blogged every day.
    I was also obsessed.
    Now, I'm still obsessed, but saner.
    Good luck to everyone who's doing these challenges!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See, A?

      Can you imagine the unleashed Kraken of a post a day???

      xo

      Delete
  3. heh...yeah i am not doing it...an exercise in frustration....i used to blog daily....now its a gentle rhythm of 5 a week...and i love my days off....smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I couldn't do the exercises because, well, they're EXERCISES.

    Last week I said "Shazbot" to my kids and they gave me the silent stare. They had no idea what I was talking about.

    And they slipped further from me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember Shazbot??

      STILL fun to say.

      And it means what you need it to mean at that moment--ORK magic like that.

      nanoo nanoo.

      Delete
  5. People were sick of me when I did the a-z challenge in April, so I will just. Keep to myself with NaNo words! Sometimes I think I sign up for it so that for at least one month when people ask what I am up to, I have a seemingly half way decent answer. (I also think. My family is glad to have me inn m own head for awhile, instead of trying to get into theirs...hee hee hee)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I am one typo away from losing my high school diploma!

      Delete
    2. I don't intend on publicizing this month at all. No tweets/Facebooking about the new posts because it's more for me anyway, just to get back into the habit of writing daily. That's why I like it: it's appealing to me for reaons different from others I know who're doing it. I'm also going into it stress-free so that if I get sick or tired or drunk I give myself cause to say not today.

      Delete
  6. Not doing either. And honestly, I'm slightly annoyed by all of the exclusivity associated with NaNoWriMo. I'm spending all month editing and rewriting more than 50k words, but not allowed to join in with any of their festivities because it's not NEW. Certainly not blogging each day--I'm supposed to be writing/editing. I shouldn't even be here now!

    But I wish NaNo'er out there luck. Hope their still sane at the end & can't wait to read their stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I"m glad you're here. And there will be good stuff that comes out of your re editing.

      You're doing something, and in a month, A LOT gets done.

      xo

      Delete
  7. Love this post. And Stephen King does not get the Crazy Man in his head to shut up, that's his secret ;)
    I won't be doing the novel/blog either. 'Cause I'm nobody's bitch and I write when I want :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think in my fantasy world where I'm a lady of leisure & have a nanny for each child, I would LOVE to do it, but it's just in the cards for me right now. In honor of NaNoBoShmoMo, I bought a lottery ticket ...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I did NaNoWriMo for 5 years (and the sister challenge, Script Frenzy, twice) and I'm still very much over it all. Granted, it was fun to push myself to write that much (and a very cool concept that will, one of these days, become a graphic novel came out of one year's efforts) but what got to me were the folks who thought they were going to whip out 50K in a month and send it straight out to a publisher. Yeah, sorry, hate to burst your bubble, but that's not really how it works.

    And I was one of the local organizers, too.

    NaBloPoMo has never interested me--I blog 5 times a week (on 5 different blogs) and that's totally enough for me :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Not for me. I have had months scattered throughout the six years I've been blogging where I posted daily, but as soon as someone tells me I have to, I don't want to. Because, you know, you're not the boss of me and all that. I want to write when I want to. Period.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I signed up for the novel writing last year but I know myself too -- not gonna happen. I'm over beating myself up for what I can't get done. So this is the first time I'm doing the blog writing. I figure even a photo suffices as a post, so I'm taking it as fun. And although it's a 30 day commitment, it's still kinda down on my priority list so it's more of an eh, I'ma try rather than must, must, must increase my...posts.

    ReplyDelete
  12. These sounds like very good reasons to avoid these challenges. I'm not doing them because I enjoy blogging fairly often and I never want to feel like I HAVE to. I'm afraid i would rush to shove something together just to say I did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right?

      How do you calm the mental chatter?

      Just my Red Flags story changed me during those days I worked on it. I was relieved when it was all done and told.

      xo

      Delete
  13. OMGoodness! That's wonderful! Such a beautiful, beautiful letter!


    I'll never forget his itty-bitty head resting on my shoulder the first day he came home. I wanted him to be mine... I've never forgotten that special feeling that I have for him.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I completed NaNoWriMo last year and wow, it was hard. But you're right. I became obsessed with finishing 50k words. It was all I thought about! I'm not doing it this year.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your reasons for not joining in NaNoWriMo are all legit (or at least, they're valid to me because they are the same concerns I have). I think I would obsess and overthink and overanalzye and I'm not sure I would be happy with the end result. That being said, maybe when I'm in a better place emotionally, it'll be easier for me to accomplish. Maybe next year. But I won't beat myself up about it for not participating this year.

    XOXO and have missed you. Loved your feature at S3P today!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've posted every day for 30 days 3 times ~ almost all photos and very few words. I think that's far easier [for me]. I've got a few friends signed up for both of these projects. Yes, they are quite insane.

    Back when I wrote more often, I still wouldn't do either for exactly the same reasons as you.

    (What do you mean by "there'd be less of me than there already is in this house"? This worries me.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My oldest, Cheryl.

      Really wants to talk to me a lot lately, and I work nights.

      I have to be around when he's around.

      And that means off the computer.

      You're such a good, good friend.
      xo

      Delete
  17. November comes down to this: I don't need external deadlines. I put enough pressure on myself, and I have 50 projects going on right now. creativity is doing what feels right at the time, and not what I have to do.

    I write for a living and I write for fun, so the last thing I need is to commit to more every single day kind of writing.

    Aw, HAIL no.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yeah, no. I know that planning on posting daily would be setting myself up for failure. I write for 2 other sites during the week. I don't have it in me.

    NaNoWriMo? That's serious crazy. I think that's one of the things that boggles me about fiction writers -- they are so wrapped up in their fiction world with their characters and plot and everything, how do they have any room for the real world?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yeah.

      Maybe it's just us?

      I don't know. I do know when I did that 4 day part story, I wrote notes all day long, everywhere. Even during dinner, it was hard not to jump up when I remembered something I had forgotten originally.

      ANd the story dragged me in again, I felt anxious and depressed.

      How can a story NOT affect you?

      Like I said, maybe it's us.

      xo

      Delete
  19. Writing the novel in 30 days? I've committed to writing 100 words for 30 days on my novel. It's a start. A very slow, slow start.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yes! Thank you! I so get this! I say NaNoOhNo! NaNoBloMe! NaNoHellNo! I think you get my point. I overdo everything. Including loving this post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, pretty lady. So nice to see you . I've been following you over at the collective site: I LOVE YOUR STUFF THERE.

      xo

      Delete
  21. And best line of the week goes to "I can't do NaBloPoMo because I'd be Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise, 'somethin's come alive in me and I cain't turn it off.'"

    Come join me at http://meghanward.com/blog/2012/11/02/nanowrimo-a-different-call-to-action/ this month. We set our own goals and you can win toffee. That's my kind of writing challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thank you. Thank you. FOr saying the things that I feel ashamed to say in a way that doesn't make them sound shameful.

    People have a way of making you feel like a bad person , like what kind of writer are you, if you aren't doing one of these November writing activities.

    Truth it, we are alike.

    No one would like me very much if I tried to do either of these things.

    And my readers would hate me.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Too funny! I tried it last year, but there's way too much pressure to do more. I have a newborn and I can't put that kind of pressure on myself. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, April! Congrats on your newborn!
      I can easily do a post an hour, I'm that kind of lonely, BUT the novel thing is something where it would take over my brain.

      And my kids, especially my oldest, really needs my eye to eye attention.

      He loves to talk to me, and I never want to blow it.

      NEVER.

      xo

      Delete
  24. I have got to get over and read your feature. I know nothing of this Studio30plus of which you speak. Must educate myself.

    As for you opting out on the other two things, tis a loss for us all. I, for one, need more thought provoking lines like....

    Really, I don't know how Stephen King does it. How does he get Crazy Mary in his head to Shut.Up?
    ....in my life. Because seriously, how does he? Or maybe he doesn't?!?! And would that thought make him less weird or more?

    Anyway, loved the post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello May: just went and visited your blog. WOW oh WOW, what a beautiful site! I couldn't see how to comment, so sent you a tweet and left you a message on FB.
      It really is a thing of beauty over there.

      xo

      Delete
  25. Yeah, I'm too busy eating chocolate to think about blogging everyday. Unless it's about chocolate of course. xo

    ReplyDelete
  26. I'm doing NaBloPoMo because I need to remember what it's like to post regularly. It's a great exercise for me because I am usually a woman of few words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, your more a woman of action: to the rescue of all our critters; flesh and blood, ceramic: makes NO DIFFERENCE.

      Delete
  27. Thanks for clearing it up - I was in the dark over those big and little letters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy to help, Jennie.

      I remember when I first got online and thought what in the world?

      It sounds like fun, but the daily posting is something that would be easy for me. I love to post.
      The novel would completely take over my life.
      I'm like that.

      xo

      Delete
  28. I never did either of them because I know that when I followed blogs that posted every day for 30 days I stopped reading them until it was all over. Mainly because not everyone is as fascinating as they think they are! And as to the novel, I toyed with the idea, only so I could finish my first novel, which is in pieces and on crutches.

    Now that I'm actually writing my first memoir, I can assure you that YES, your level of obsession becomes insane. I'd wake up at 3 am and think of ONE WORD, one word that absolutely positively had to go in Chapter 5 and replace another word. So I'd get up and pull up the files and TYPE IT IN. O N E W O R D.

    As the deadline looms, I've rewritten each chapter 4 million times until I hate it and can't look at it anymore. If I'd known I would one day get a book deal, I'd probably have done the 30 day novel challenge. But my ESP was down for repairs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so funny, Suzy.

      And I know this about myself: I'd be on my back in bed, jumping in and out, 5 times a night:changing that one word.

      Delete
  29. I literally just burst out laughing at your last sentence. You're the best!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for writing about this, Alexandra! I was literally thinking about both these projects, and the blog one just this morning because that is when I learned about it. For me, it seems like the perfect exercise given my penchant for disappearing once I get busy or come up against writer's block or become gripped with a sudden case of on-line shyness. But, like you said, would anyone want to hear from me 30 days a week?! I am afraid of clogging up everyone's inboxes with my blog alerts. Anyway, I may instead just do a modified version of this -- either write in a personal journal 30 days or move up my blogging to once or even twice a week! ;-)

    I totally know what you are saying about the whole living inside your head thing too...it's very unsettling, especially when your child is screaming to be fed and you are like "huh? did you say something?" after his 5th attempt to get you to make dinner...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ceci: that IS actually a great idea and you should post on it. Doing the nambopambo stuff BUT keep it in a journal.

      I like that idea.

      xo

      Delete
  31. There's a National Blog Posting Month? Good lord, I'm so out of it. And really, A, I read part of your Red Flags series - amazing. Trying to find the time to just sit down quietly and read all of it in one sitting. Everyone's talking about it. GOOD FOR YOU. xo

    ReplyDelete
  32. This is just how I feel about coaching my son's team!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I know *exactly* what you mean about "knowing things about yourself." It would start out with intentions of balance, and then the next thing you know, I've left out a bowl of dry cheerios for the kids to eat for dinner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheerios for dinner? That's a bad thing?
      oops ...

      Delete
  34. I could never...1,000 words a week is about all I got these days.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oh, God, the whole novel-in-a-month thing makes my eyeballs want to fall right out of my head.

    *boink, boink*

    XOXO

    A.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I'm right there with you on this. First, I'd have to come up with an idea for a novel. Believe me, I keep thinking but as yet have found the flickering gem that could light my fire for more than a few minutes let alone an entire month non-stop.

    I do think it's admirable to write everyday and I actually think it's a great idea. But, posting something everyday is just too much. People find it a turn off unless you've got such an enormous site like the Pioneer Woman. I'm not sure if the rest of us are that interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The premise is to make writing wake something up in you.

      I'm already woked up, and I don't want to be in people's faces already more than I am, you know? Because I could post every hour on the hour, whatever that's all about, I don't know.
      xo

      Delete
  37. I decided to do NaBloPoMo becasue I never join in on anything - ever. It's only been a week and I'm all, "What the hell was I thinking?" Not because I'm going all Thelma and Louise (I wish), but because the minute I feel like I have to do something... I don't want to.

    ReplyDelete

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