Nanowrimo

April 16, 2012 at 8:00 am (A-Z challenge)

I never wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Aside from some very, very lame fanfics for a long canceled show, I’d never written for anything other than school assignments. I didn’t really intend to, either. I was in college, and while I liked and aced my English classes, my major was biology.
And then, one year, I stumbled on Nanowrimo. I don’t even remember how exactly, it’s been so long. It was early October, and I spent the rest of the month planning out this horrendous coming of age, college drama filled story. It involved sex, drugs, rock and roll, and absolutely nothing I had any knowledge about at that point. I was all set to start, but late on october 31, I felt absolutely nothing for the story, nor the characters. I was bored before I even started.

I lay there, staring up at the ceiling. I wanted a story that was exciting. I wanted a story like what I wanted to read. I asked in my head, “OK, any characters running around in here who have interesting stories to tell?”

Out walked a red head with a haunted look to her eyes. “I do,” she said, and 50k later, I’d won my first nano.

Over the years, I’ve won some, lost some. I’ve made friends, and enemies. I’ve found writers groups, lovers, and through it all, the words that wouldn’t come out in any other way but Nano. Sure, all of them need work. Even the best ones need some staunch edits. But each year, I learned something, be it about my writing or about myself. Nano made me start putting words on the page, and even in the craziest years, I try it.

Now, and forever, I Nano. Do you?