NaNoWriMo

Writer at Work!

November is National Novel Writing Month, which is a challenge to write 50,000 words over the course of thirty days, which works out to 1,667 words a day.  EVERY day.  The point of it is definitely quantity over quality. Can you turn off your inner editor, the one who says “Why did you use that word? It’s crap. Why are you using so many adverbs? You’re telling, not showing!, etc…”?

If you’re an aspiring writer, or just ever thought “hey, I bet I could write a novel,” it’s a great exercise. If nothing else, it helps keep the procrastination at bay, and at the end of the month, you may have developed a daily writing habit.

I love to write. It’s probably safe to say that I’ve been an aspiring novelist since I was about 12. I finished my first novel, an angsty ghost story, in 2005, that I even got to the “sending off to agents” point before I realized that it really belonged in my desk drawer more than it belonged on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. It’s good to know your limitations.

I attempted the NaNoWriMo challenge one November a few years ago but had to bail before Thanksgiving. I had no intention of trying it this year until I got an idea in my head on November 2. And if you have written before, you know that when you get an idea in your head, it isn’t going away. So before I knew it I had signed up and started writing.  And since I was already a day behind, I’ve been playing catchup ever since.  Tomorrow’s the halfway point, so I should be at 25,000 words. Yeah. Not so much. I need to catch up.

I’ve always loved writing in coffeehouses, ever since my college days when my friend Will and I would head to a local coffeehouse just off campus with our notebooks, both right after our creative writing class and on random evenings or mornings where we just needed to get away. I’m lucky in that Mount Dora has plenty of coffeehouses. And tea shops. And random restaurants that don’t seem to mind if you hang out with your laptop or a notebook for an hour or two.

Today I went to One Flight Up, which is one of my absolute favorite places in a town that is FULL of “favorite places.” I ensconsed myself at one of their tables out on the balcony and set up my little netbook.

It was a perfect day to be out on the balcony. That subtle fall weather is setting in here in Florida, which means the temperatures are hovering around 80 or so. A little spot in the shade on a balcony overlooking downtown Mount Dora, was the perfect place to bang out a couple of thousand words this afternoon.

Bird's Eye View of Mount Dora

The only real problem with writing at One Flight Up is that the view can be distracting. The balcony gives you a unique view of the heart of the Donnelly Street shopping district, and it’s got to be the best place to people-watch in town. Sometimes one of the horse-drawn carriages goes by – one today carried a newly-married couple, still in wedding gown and tuxedo, and I hollered “Congratulations!” over the balcony railing.

And the food.  Ohhhh, the food.  Good food is essential to the coffeehouse writing experience.  And yes, I should have had coffee, but it was a little warm today.  And a couple visits ago I discovered the Arnold Palmer – half iced tea, half lemonade.   And you know what goes really well with it?  Cody’s carrot cake.

It's got carrots. That's healthy, right?

Yummmm.  It’s all I can do to not lick the plate when I get that.

By the end of my writing session today, I’d broken 20,000 words, and when I finish this I’ll get back to it.  Will I make 25,000 words by tomorrow, or 50,000 words by November 30?  I’m not sure.  But I’m going to try, dammit.  And if I have to go to One Flight Up every weekend this month and have more carrot cake, well, then that’s just my cross to bear.