Tuesday, November 1, 2011

ShaNoEdWriMo...Say What?!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

After some thought on NaNoWriMo, I decided that starting a new novel right now would be quite the opposite of helpful, so instead of participating in NaNoWriMo, I've made my own:

ShaNoEdWriMo or Shannon's Novel Editing and Writing Month.

I didn't do NaNoWriMo last year, either, but it still helped me get moving and make progress on my novel. I set a different goal last year of 30,000 words completed on the novel I was already working on, and I met that goal! I'm aiming for that same sort of aid this year, so I'm once again making my own goals for the month.

My goals are as follows:
*5000 words written per week (can be fiction or non-fiction, and any medium)
*5 chapters edited on my Lonely Hollow novel per week

While I can set these goals at any time, November brings along with it the energy of NaNoWriMo. Other authors are either following the NaNo goals or making their own (I can't be the only one!). That energy can be infectious. In addition, there are support systems everywhere, thanks to NaNo. I can pop onto Facebook, Blogger, Twitter and various other places at any time and find someone else trying to meet their goals. I'm hoping this community energy is beneficial.

Having said that, I set goals regularly to help me through. These ones are maybe a little more stringent, but if they work, I'd love to be able to keep them going. If they don't work, I can tinker with them and find out what is possible and go with that from here on out. Lacking flexibility will get me nowhere.

On a side note, if you're in the Pikes Peak region, Pikes Peak Writers is hosting write-ins for NaNoWriMo (or their very own NaNoTryMo, which involves setting your own rules, as well) each Tuesday at the Citadel Mall. More information on that can be found HERE. You can participate in these write-ins whether you're participating in NaNo or not. I intend to make at least one, if not more, though I will be missing today's.

Are you participating in NaNo? Are you following the proper rules or making your own? What are they? Is this your first year of doing some sort of WriMo?

May you find your Muse.

6 comments:

MG Higgins said...

I'm a slow writer and can't seem to commit to NaNo anyway. Making my own goals for the month is a great idea, like ... 500 words a day? I can do that. Good luck with ShaNoEdWriMo! :)

Jennie Bennett said...

I'm feeding off of everyone else's energy as well. Don't know that I can write 50,000 words but I can try to better than I have been doing!

brenda said...

No Nano for me ( like you it would the opposite of helpful) and I am editing, too. I am however, attempting to participate in PAD (poem a day) only so I give my creative self a little thrill. Editing is not my first love, but it's growing on me, so I need a little something else to do...

Kelly Hashway said...

I'm not doing NaNo either because I'm finishing up on my YA novel. I'm 70k into an 80-85K novel. My goal this month is to finish drafting and get through one round of revisions. I love that so many people are creating their own NaNo challenges. I feel like I'm in good company.

J E Fritz said...

Sounds like you've got some great goals, which is really the most important part of writing. I'm doing NaNo in order to take a break from my WIP. I hope that when I'm done, all the energy I built up from NaNo will transfer back to my other book. Good luck! I hope you reach your goals.

Shannon Lawrence said...

MG, I figure any goal is a good goal. Good luck!

J.A., that's precisely it for me. I've been slacking and it's time to jump back in with both feet!

Brenda, that's a good idea and sounds fun. I think we all need a little creative stimulation when editing, as it's not as much of a creative endeavor.

Kelly, good luck with your goals!

JE, I hope that energy transfers for you; good luck!