Today's NaNoWriMo guest post was written by Yvette Couser aka Wilabea94, the NaNoWriMo Municipal Liason (ML) for New Hampshire.
Howdy, New Hampshire Wrimos!Welcome to NaNoWriMo Week 1! I hope everyone participating had a very productive weekend filled with leftover Halloween candy that allowed them to power up on caffeine and sugar and write beyond their daily goal of 1667 words toward your overall goal of 50K!There are some of you who may still be on the fence about the notion of writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Maybe you’ve checked out the website and poked around the forums. Maybe you’ve always wanted to write a novel, maybe you’ve started several times but have always pushed that desire aside because you have so many other responsibilities that take priority. Maybe you’re unsure if it’s really the right time in your life to take on yet another project. If that’s you, then I’ll tell you Wrimo: NaNoWriMo was created for your inner writer to find their voice again.There’s a saying we have here around this time of year, Wrimo: The World Needs Your Novel. I’ll take that a step further and say The State of New Hampshire Needs Your Novel. Really. I’ll tell you why:We are at war.Yes – Maine has declared a regional “word war” on us (on us? With us?Against us? Meh, in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, I will leave all three possibilities which will boost my word count and SAVE MY EDITING FOR DECEMBER), so naturally I turned around and declared a word war on our other neighbors, the Vermont region and the North Shore, MA region.Now, I know what you’re thinking: Whoa, settle down there Municipal Liaison! How much leftover candy did you consume this weekend? I mean, it’s just…words. It’s just a little writing hobby that I pull out everyNovember. It’s not that serious!But it is serious, Wrimo. It is. November can get a little wild and crazy, but for lots of us who keep on coming back, that’s exactly why it’s one of the best times of the year.Yes, what I’m trying to say is, we are in it for the crazy.NaNoWriMo allows us to put our creativity first. Some of us get up a little earlier, and some of us stay up a little later, just so we can fit our writing time in around all of the other demands in our lives. Work, family, school – these are all very good and important things – but your dreams, your creativity is important too. And unfortunately, that’s usually the important thing that gets pushed aside.Stephen R. Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, writes about a habit called “sharpening the saw”, which, basically, is an activity of renewal. If you’ve been feeling down and out, Wrimo, maybe you need to try to put some of those feelings on paper.NaNoWriMo is an event during which you give yourself permission to just write – no editing, no rewriting, we don’t even allow hitting the delete key. Just let the words flow. Your novel will surprise you, heck, it might even reach out and bite you, but that’s all part of the magic of the month.You’ll have good days, and better days, and some days you’ll feel like you’re not getting anywhere, but the point is to keep on taping that keyboard (or pushing the pencil) every day, logging in 1667 words until you hit 50,000 and sometimes a friendly little word war is just the thing you need to push through a touch of writer’s block.Wrimos use November to develop or revive a daily writing habit.Need more inspiration? I’ll leave you with a few more…• Create an online profile and join in on the conversation on the forums. You’ll receive information about writing contests, submissions to agents, free or discounted writing software and much more• immerse yourself in NaNo Prep on the blog• join the virtual canteen-talk on Twitter, and• find inspiration and writing prompts to spur you on through FacebookI look forward to cheering you all on – remember, The World Needs Your Novel, and only you can write it!Best,Yvette Couser aka Wilabea94ML: New Hampshire
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