Last night I couldn’t sleep. I’d set my alarm for 6:00 am in order to begin my first day of participation in National Novel Writing Month 2018. Still wide awake at one o’clock in the morning, I tried to talk myself out of getting up to write a mere 5 hours later. But I did get out of bed when the alarm rang, and fueled by coffee, wrote furiously for 2 hours. By the end of the day, I’d exceeded my word count goal of 1500 words for a grand total of 1603! Let me assure you, it was some of the worst prose I’ve ever written. Also this morning I attended the first of four, two-hour classes at the Loft Literary Center. “Write a Novel in a Month” is being taught by Abby Cooper, whose first book, a middle grade novel, was a product of National Novel Writing Month five years ago. After 13 fellow students shared why they were taking the class, Abby engaged us in a simple craft exercise to help us define WHY we want to write a novel. Probably the most important reason, I realized, is that I want my granddaughter, who is three years old and loves rabbits, to be able to read The Tale of Nettie Rabbit when she’s seven or eight years old. Other reasons paled in comparison. I guess it’s time to set my alarm and get ready for Day #2!
#NaNoWriMo