Hello, WriMos:
Today begins Week 2 of this crazy contest in which we find ourselves!
How are you feeling today? Excited? Overwhelmed? Worried? What's your word count? Are you disciplining yourselves to write every day? Did you download the workbook from the ywp.nanowrimo.org website to help and inspire you?
Let's take a moment to reflect. It's important to remember why we are participating in this contest:
1. To belong to a community of people who have a common interest - writing.
2. To use the momentum and excitement of a contest to motivate us to write.
3. To put onto paper the story that has been brewing in our heads for awhile.
The contest is NOT about getting a book printed at the end. "What? " You exclaim. "That's the only reason I'm doing this silly thing..."
The printed book is merely frosting on the cake. It's a reward for a job well done. But it's a minor reward compared to writing more than you ever thought you could possibly write.
This contest is opening your eyes to your possibilities as writers. Sometimes, unless someone puts a goal in front of us (like a teacher's assignment, for instance), we tend not to write for our own pleasure because there's not enough time or energy. But the desire to write is always there, burning a hole in our creative psyche. We just need to make it a priority.
So, during this NaNoWriMo month, write for the pleasure of it. Write because you have something to say. Write because you know this is one of MANY contests in which you will participate and it's exciting to be part of an international venture.
I hope all of you reach 50,000 words and receive a printed book. It will be cool to put our books in the media center at the Academy and shout "I did it!".
But that's not what makes us writers.
What really matters is that we write.
Because that's what writers do.
They live it.
They breathe it.
They hunger for it.
It sustains them and makes them whole.
And when they don't write, they feel discontent.
So, go write.
Fulfill yourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment