T-Minus 2 days....

NaNoWriMo 2012 is two days away.... I am less panicky than I was last time I posted, as I have now written an outline and have a basic idea of what I am going to write. I am excited! There is, of course, the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days, while still balancing all of the other normal aspects of life, etc... but there is also the challenge of trying to express this idea running about in my head onto paper in a form that other people will understand and (hopefully) enjoy. This 2nd part is the part that is really challenging for me - I don't translate to paper very well. Heck, I don't translate to WORDS very well sometimes.

(This, amongst the other random adventures that we have planned for the next month, among those things called "The Holidays". I can't even believe its time to start talking about The Holidays again. I always feel so very unprepared for them. This year, sadly, is no different. Yikes.)

I really find the whole NaNoWriMo experience to be very freeing and introspective. I think I really learned a lot from last year's experience, and I am hopeful that I will learn more this year. Learn about the way that I write, and what I want from my writing, learn about writing itself and the process for it to be successful for me. There is a certain amount of "turning off" that is involved, as in turning off your inner critic and turning off your need to rewrite as you write, so that you just WRITE. Whatever it is, just put it on paper. This works really well for somethings, and, well, some things get re-written in the editing process.

I stepped way, way, way out of the box last year, and wrote a romance... and its stiff and awkward and weird, but it exists. That was a "win" for me, even if it never sees the light of day. I am stepping a little back into the box this year, but still keeping one foot out. I'm going to write in a contemporary urban setting, which is out of the box for me as most of my stories, etc tend to be fantasy/sci-fi/historical settings. Its also going to be a bit of an action-adventure, which is really out of my element. I am excited to give it a try!

So, onwards to writing!