I'm behind, I hate my novel, I hate my MC, I hate the style it's written in, my inner editor committed hara-kiri some time ago and I just spend the last of my money on things I really don't need all that much and donating all the money I had for caffeine this year to The Office of Letters and Light.
This is my third time doing NaNoWriMo and I fall in love with the event a little more each year.
I always, without fail experience this feeling that I like to call "NaNo-fluffies"
It is the moment in all the chaos where I sit back and go "Ah... this is so much fun! I LOVE IT!" and where I feel utterly satisfied with what I've done with my November.
The first year it came with one of Chris Baty's pep talks. The second year it came after I donated and bought a winner's T-shirt (which got cancelled because my address was confusing everyone!)
This year it came in a completely different form. I was having dinner with my mom after being out of the country for a year. It was the fourth of November and we'd just covered break-ups with boyfriends and Australian wild-life (unrelated, I assure you). Suddenly my mom looks up at me from across the fondue pot and goes.
"You missed the NaNoWriMo kick off party! It was last weekend I think!"
With a bit of surprise I responded I had not been to one before and that it didn't matter that much (though it would've been fun of course!).
"But you have to participate again!" She exclaimed in utter shock. I assured her I was actually participating again this year and that I was only 4000 words behind so far.
"Well, I believe you can do it again this year. And then you will have to let me read it!"
And that, was my NaNo-fluffy moment of this year. Early, but I'm not complaining.
From a mother who couldn't muster up a more positive response than: "But WHY?!" the first time I was hanging over the keyboard, banging my forehead into the ghfiuh-keys in desperation, and mourning the loss of the last can of energy drink -- to a mother who is now letting me know when and where the write-ins are... that's a big step!
Before long she'll convert too and fall for my powers of persuasion. Soon she will write her own NaNo. I've converted many friends to do it. She will not be far behind!
Do you experience NaNo-Fluffies? If so, what was/is your NaNo-fluffy moment?
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31,280 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 23 56
My nano-fluffy (we're ignoring the fact that IHMAWTD at the moment, okay?) was when my mum said on friday, "So are you reading for a furious weekend of typing?" because I'd told her how behind I was. And then when she asked whether I wanted to go out to dinner, I said I had been planning on writing, and she offered to let me stay home. She always insists that I don't spend enough time with the family...so just knowing that my mum does actually support my nanowrimo goal makes me feel fuzzy.
----------Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!'
50,082 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 00 41
My NaNo-fluffy moment was convincing this random guy in the bookstore that he wouldn't suddenly drop dead if he even contemplated trying to do NaNoWriMo. We got to talking about it because I was looking at stuff on the 'Write a Novel In 30 Days' table at my local bookstore (I've mentioned I love them, right?). He'd heard about it before, but thought it was crazy and impossible, but he was actually considering doing it by the time we finished talking. And thus, my day was made. xD
Or else, it was the moment I had just a little while ago when I finished pounding out my word count for today and realized that despite the fact that I'm supposed to be getting on a plane in five hours and haven't quite finished packing yet, I'm having the time of my life. Again. ^.^
----------2008 - "Stars Are Watching" - 81,000 words.
2009 - "Mercy's Friends" - ?
http://withorwithoutyou.dreamwidth.org (NaNoWriMo specific blog.)
31,539 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 01 16
"NaNo-Fluffies!" So there's even a word for this wacky noveling-induced sense of playful happiness, satisfaction, and well-being? That the same feeling experienced by-- and discussed by-- other NaNovelists just makes me love NaNoWriMo culture even more! I'm going to have to make NaNoWriMo a yearly tradition.
My NaNo-fluffy moment wasn't during November... it was on October 10th. I thought of a few little ideas, and I thought, "That might make a good story." But I didn't pay much attention to it, because who has time to write? Anyway, what good would it do? I never finish anything. Then I thought, "Whoa, November is next month! I could write down these ideas for NaNoWriMol!" All of a sudden I felt capable and excited. I started preparing for NaNoWriMo right away by checking out some reference books and jotting down some outlines. That NaNo-fluffy feeling has just kept going non-stop for weeks now!
I had been feeling pretty low, and having NaNoWriMo has absolutely helped haul me up out of the blues. I know it sounds weird, but being really busy all the time on NaNoing is somehow making it so that I have *more* time for taking care of all kinds of other things, spending with family, and doing fun things. Maybe it's just because I have something to look forward to now, and it's making me feel more energetic. I haven't felt this wonderful in a long time! I'm looking at this year's NaNo as being a landmark where I can really turn my life around.
30,245 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 23
To be frank I had no idea if other people experience the same or similar fluffy feelings from NaNo (other than the obvious buzz of writing a novel in 30 days). So it's good to know this topic wasn't completely ignored =P
And I'm also glad to hear I'm not the only one who tries to convert everyone they talk to to the NaNoWriMo way. xD