undone

The novel is coming along, in a manner of speaking.  I'm 18, 411 words closer to my goal of writing 50,000 words by the end of the month.  The rough draft is pretty, um, rough, but hey, that's part of the fun, right?

Nearly everything else on my list of extracurriculars, though, has come to a screeching halt.  Including my first-ever doll-making attempt, inspired by Hillary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls.  (For those of you with the book at home, my little doll is going to be a slightly dumbed-down version of The Tag-A-Long Doll.)

But not anytime, soon, apparently.  Because now there's that pesky novel to write.

I've only just started worrying about when my Christmas knitting is going to get done...

sharing

I filled the bird feeder a few hours ago.  In the time since, there's been a crazy dinner party going on, with finches, flickers, chickadees, and two obnoxious blue jays.  Of course, they're all smarter than I am and much faster than my camera, but they've been a good show.  Even if I don't have the evidence to prove it.

Mostly, I've been birdwatching as an excuse to take a break from the novel-writing.  Since I last posted here, I've eked out over 11,000 words towards my 50,000 word goal.  On the fifth day of the month, I'm already over a fifth of the way through the thing.  It's kind of a rush, but I think it might be a little early to start celebrating.

So, I'll be spending my weekend writing, which is, in fact, probably what I should be doing right now.  If you're not facing a ridiculous novel-writing challenge, here's a weekend to-do list for you:

Get rid of the Halloween candy.  That is, if there's any left.  Ahem.

Start planning your Thanksgiving menu.

Get creeped out by something beautiful.

Make a paper pumpkin.

Find some new ideas.

Eat the art.

Have a wonderful weekend, all!

November

Perhaps you've already heard, but if not, it's important that you know:  November is National Novel Writing Month.  I'm choosing to celebrate by participating in the twelfth year of an annual competition to write a 50,000 word novel.  I'll start tonight, and hopefully, if Thanksgiving doesn't trip me up, be penning the final words on the last day of the month.

And I won't be alone.  Would-be novelists from all over the world are participating in this harebrained scheme.  At the time of this writing, NaNoWriMo writers have already generated over 800,000 words!  And I haven't even had my morning coffee yet...

I am not a novelist.  If you don't count the posts that I share here on the Sparrow, I'm not even a writer, really.  This year, though, I've decided that fact is not enough to stop me.

I'm not expecting to generate a great work of fiction.  At best, I'm hoping for an extremely rough draft that will inspire me to start picking up a pen a bit more often.  Mostly, I'm just hoping to survive.  Sixteen hundred words a day is a lot.

I'm worried that this writing thing might eat up some of the time that I usually spend crafting or goofing around in the kitchen.  I'm determined, though, to keep posting here.  I hope you'll be patient with me, especially if my posts start turning into short, desperate paragraphs whining about writer's block and caffeine withdrawal.

So, yes, I have my concerns, but mostly I'm excited.  This is a big endeavor, and I'm eager to get started. If your interest is piqued, it's not too late to join in.  You can learn more at nanowrimo.org.  If you are participating in NaNoWriMo, by all means let me know!  And to the rest of you, watching from the stands, I will, no doubt, be in need of some cheerleaders, probably sometime early next week.  I'll let you know...

Wish me luck, dear readers.  Oh, and happy November!