50,000 Words in Five Days: A Self-Imposed NaNoWriMo Challenge

Multi-tasking, baby!

I thought I was kicking ass when I finished my 2011 NaNo novel in fifteen days.

I thought I was kicking even more ass when I finished my 2012 NaNo novel in eight days.

That's when I found out that there are people out there who have written 50K in less than 24 HOURS. (I'm looking at you, sushimustwrite and Errol.) My first though was this:

NO FREAKING WAY. THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE. 

...Man, I have GOT to try that.

Although writing 50K in a day is definitely on my bucket list, that shit requires training. Maybe next year.

The cool thing about 2013 is that I'm no longer a full-time student, meaning that this is the first NaNoWriMo where time is on my side and I don't have essays to write. I'm even a recent owner of a Treaddesk setup, meaning that I can write novels AND lose weight...at the same time. (If that's not the definition of awesome, I don't know what is.) No excuses this year, that's for sure! If there's ever a time for me to take NaNo seriously, it's now.

Because of this, I have two..uh, ambitious personal goals for this year's National Novel Writing Month.

1. Write a minimum of 150K;
2. Write the first 50K by midnight on November 5th.

Writing 10K a day for five days straight is tough. It's certainly less extreme than what some people have done, but dammit, it's still a challenge. It'll require an unhealthy number of caffeinated beverages, stamina, and a knack for bullshitting my way out of anything. (My English degree should serve me well!)

I don't want to intimidate anyone, though. The actual goal of NaNoWriMo is 50,000 words in a month, not five days. The important thing is to just write. Just do it. Just sit down and start writing and stop making excuses. I make excuses for why I can't and shouldn't write all the time. Don't be me.


Oh, and for those of you debating the worth of writing 1667 words per day for a month: let me tell you something.

Never mind the typos, the gaping plot holes, the lack of carefully researched facts—you will have written words! Words which you can, come December and beyond, edit! Words that WILL be salvageable because quantity breeds quality, especially when you've been hurled headfirst into the freaking ZONE.

It's glorious. It's difficult. It's gloriously difficult and it's worth it because you have a story that needs to be told.

It's the magic of turning your story into something more than an idea floating around solely in your own head.

It's real. It's tangible. It's something that has the potential to live on even after you're long gone. It's immortality at its finest.

It's a novel.


But I digress.

I will be tweeting, instagraming, and possibly vlogging throughout my self-imposed challenge. I will most likely write things in all caps and ramble incoherently as I walk on the treadmill, but hey—now that Breaking Bad's over, I'm probably all the (formerly) New Mexico-based entertainment you've got.

See you in November and best of luck!

Kat