Joining the Armed Forces During NaNo

Hello, all. My name is Tess and I am joining the US Army this NaNoWriMo. It's a very exciting time in my life that I wasn't sure I would even get to experience (it was iffy as to whether or not I'd get through MEPS - I drew a psych eval).

It's obviously the happiest time of my life, but it's no good for word count. Take yesterday, for instance, when I was told on such short notice that the consult was today and I had to pack up and go to the military hotel as soon as I got out of school - that alone was a day and a half of writing time gone.

Is anyone else around here joining the armed forces this month? Or have any words for this newbie? ;)

Well, assuming you don't ship to Basic within the month, consider the time crunch practice for the wonderful future. :)

I've won in 08, 09, and 10 (let's not talk about 07 and this year is going to be bumpy, I hate my novel).

In 2008, I was in ideal circumstances, nice apartment living and a fairly easy work day since our unit was just standing. In 2009, I was at the National Training Center for the entire month of November nearly, and wrote a grand total of about 1280 words that entire time. Then I wrote the whole rest of the thing in the Thanksgiving weekend and the few days afterward that I was off from coming back from NTC (amazingly, it kind of made sense even with that pace). 2010 was a deployment to AFG.

Though if you're being shipped to Basic within the month, I wouldn't hold my breath. There's no computer access there, and you'll be so busy being broken in at the Reception Battalion that even handwriting the rest of your NaNo probably won't be possible.

And remember, every sentence needs to end with the proper address. Confuse "Sergeant" "Drill Sergeant" "Sir" "Ma'am" or neglect them completely at your own personal risk.

Congrats on the big career move! The services are a great way to learn and be of service at the same time. Boot camp is what you make of it- they'll push you, but take it in stride. It's worth the challenge!

What's your MOS?