NaNoWriMo

My work in progress, Theft, was my NaNoWriMo winner novel in 2014. Crazy, right?

For those that don’t know, NaNoWriMo—or National Novel Writing Month— is a nonprofit which organizes a novel writing month in which thousands of established and aspiring writers endeavor to write a 50,000 word novel within the month of November.

Yes, that’s right. Many of us embark on a journey to write an average of 1,666 words per day. If we succeed and hit our 50,000 words, we win NaNoWriMo. That’s it. Challenge succeeded.

The one and only time I have tackled NaNoWriMo was in 2014. I had graduated from college that spring, finished up my seasonal summer job at my bicycle shop, and returned from a month-long trip to the UK, just in time to officially hit my post-college “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life” status. It was a fantastic time of self-doubt. On Halloween, having no other idea what to do with my life, I decided that the next day I would partake in NaNoWriMo.

That novel ended up becoming The Wastelanders, a 50,000 word walking disaster that I had fallen in love with and dedicated myself to seeing through to completion.

Now, six years later, The Wastelanders has changed to a working title of Theft, is a 153,000 word behemoth with the rest of the trilogy in the works as well as a side novella in conception. Trying to wrestle that original disaster draft into a walking fifty-armed monster and now cut and chop it down yet again has been a journey. I’ve completed another novel since then and taken many breaks from Theft. My hope is that this time, this 2020 pandemic-year push, is the charm.

My 2020 NaNoWriMo goal is this: revise 50,000 words within the month. Because, ultimately, this beast is 50,000 words too long, and by the end of March I need those 50,000 words gone.

Theft, oh monster and the characters you house, you’ve been a journey. Thanks for helping direct my life during my post-college lost state, and thank you for continuing to direct my life during the pandemic. You’ll get to a finished state, one of these years. I promise.