NaNoWriMo’s First WeekWell, the first week of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is nearly over (next Tuesday) but hey! If you’re “taking the plunge” for the first time, or the umpteenth, it’s a great goal. That’s 50,000 words. You heard it. FIFTY. THOUSAND. 50K for short.And not all (or even most) of those 50K will be 14-K gold. It might be “p**p on a page” but it’s down there. And revision IS writing. The key is to start, put your nose to the grindstone and keep going. All month. Every day.Take it from a NaNo failure. Last year, I made my second unofficial attempt. This year, I signed up on the National website. Granted, I’ve got a lot more motivation—namely, writing the sequel to my first published book, DOUBLE CROSSING.It’s not easy, true. It’s not even fun. It’s hard work—but it’s also rewarding. Seeing that graph of words finished is a relief.You can only try. Ignore Yoda’s saying, “Do or do not, there is no try.” Yes, there is a trying phase to NaNo, and then you DO it. Again. And again. Whether or not you make the 50K goal, you are in good company. Great company, even. Bestseller company. And your book might hit that category one day too—because even the biggest names in publishing had to start at the bottom. Nobody—NOBODY—can sell a first draft tossed off the top of their head. Not even Stephen King. Just ask him.What a shame you don’t have time, since you’re too busy with NaNo.
About Meg:
Meg’s article about the one-legged Civil War veteran and lighthouse keeper of South Haven, James S. Donahue, appeared in Vol. 34, No. 2 Summer 2011 issue of The Chronicle, the Historical Society of Michigan magazine.
Meg first became published in the children’s market in 1997 with puzzles, a rebus, poems, short stories and illustrations. Meg wrote Double Crossing while recuperating from surgery, and then sold her western historical suspense in April of 2011.
Meg’s artistic work is in watercolor, acrylic and pen/ink media. Born and raised in southeast Michigan, she lives with her husband, a “Make My Day” Malti-poo and a drooling black cat. Her family and friends have been incredibly supportive over the years and she appreciates each one who encouraged her to “keep writing.”
