It Begins!!!

Yayyyyy!!! NaNoWriMo is here! Finally, I get to work on this book. I’ve been planning for awhile, now I get to actually write it. I’m pretty stoked about the whole thing if you can’t tell! A little over 3 hours into it, and I’ve already accomplished a lot!

I courageously (or stupidly, depending on how you look at it) took a dare on the NaNo forums to write 5000 words my first day. This makes a lot of sense for me. I have several things going on this year I did NOT have going on last year.

1) Money. I’m unemployed currently, as I was last year. That part is no different. What is different is that I had a steady Unemployment check coming in every week. This year I do not. My ex-employer lied to the employment commission and told them that I quit, so I haven't received any money yet. I have a hearing on thursday, so hopefully that will all work itself out by then. Until then, I have to scramble for money each and every week to get bills paid.

2) Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time book 13) comes out November 2nd. Book 12 came out last year on October 27th, and I didn’t even start NaNo until the 4th or 5th of November. I read the book in like 18 hours or something. I will need a large block of time to read the book.

3)Book Signing. I did go to this last year for The Gathering Storm, but I wasn’t there in any official capacity. This year, I am one of the Tower Guard (free assistant to the author), so I’ll have to be there longer with less freedom while I'm there. The chance to get some one on one time with Brandon Sanderson and Harriet Rigney is too good to pass up. Sanderson is my favorite living author, and I can't WAIT to pick his brain.

4)Thanksgiving. Last year, I stayed in town for Thanksgiving. This year, I'm travelling with both of my kids and my pregnant girlfriend to see my parents. I will probably be there for several days. I will still have time to write, just not so sure about privacy, as they have a pretty small house.

5)Pregnant Girlfriend. She’s only 8 weeks along at this point, but you never can tell how women will act. I cannot and will not ignore her to write. There are simply times when I will have to not write because she needs/wants me, and I’m happy to do that!


I'm also trying to get my World of Warcraft character (a Blood Elf Warlock on the Fenris Server, currently level 60 for those who are interested) to level 80 before the expansion pack comes out on December 7th. I’m not putting that in the list because honestly, it's not as important to me as getting this novel done. I have already warned my Guildmates that I may not be around much over the next month, but I’ll do what I can.

I’m looking at all these things as challenges rather than as obstacles. Perhaps it will motivate me even more than I was last year to finish. That being said, any time I can catch up and write ahead of my word count goal, I’m going to take the opportunity. Writing 5000 words today will put me fully 2 days ahead of schedule. If I can do that every once in awhile, that will really help.

Well, I'm off to bed now. My plan is to get a few hours of shuteye, get up and take care of some financial/real world stuff I need to, put in a few job applications, and go find a coffee shop somewhere to write. I don’t have any particular time I need to get up, but I don’t want to sleep the whole day away. As of this writing, I have 2.637 words so far, so I only need to write 2, 363 words before midnight tomorrow in order to make the 5000. Wish me luck!!!