Oh Crap It's NaNoWriMo Again: Fa lalalala la la la la

Someone once asked me if it was hard to write.

The answer is yes... and no.

It's not so much that I want to write it's more a case that I have to write.  Seriously.  My head is a scary place.  It is constantly filled with stories (and not the fluffy bunny kind).  Trust me it's not the sort of place you would want to visit for a holiday.  And the stories I have are not just vague ideas. Oh no as a visual reader/writer I see everything laid out in glorious 3D... with surround sound.  And I'm not just an observer either.  No my head has to go one step further and be a part of the stories so that I am right there next to the characters seeing, hearing, feeling what they do.

It all sounds completely insane I know... or at the very least weird.  Which probably explains a lot.  At least to those that know me.

The hard part of writing for me is turning all those images into words so that what I see etc translates in a way that others can see the same things that I do.  It makes my head spin in circles just trying to think about it.  So I won't.

Instead what I will be doing - at least for the next 30 days - is trying to write 50,000 words because November is the month of NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month for those that don't know.

Of course writing a novel in a month is just about impossible (though I'm sure someone somewhere has done it) but that's not really what NaNo is about.  What it is about is freeing yourself to write.  To stop that inner critic that so many of us writers have and just let our minds and imaginations run free without fear of getting it right the first time around.

What it also means is that I will be doing very little reading *sad face* or watching the latest seasons of Person of Interest and Supernatural *even more sad face* while I hide away in my bedroom and write.  Damn it.

All I can is insanity here I come...

I can read, I can READ, I CAN READ!

Well you would bloody hope so since I am a librarian but what I'm really getting at is that I have finished NaNoWriMo for another year.  52,371 words submitted and validated.

And 2 days early I might add.

Yes, Yes, Yes.

I can finally get into the ever increasing pile of books that has been giving me accusing looks for the past 30 days.  So much so that I swear they have been talking to me.  Tempting me with their words of adventure and excitement and far off places.  It has been a real test of wills.  Me writing and doing NaNo or picking up one of the many alluring books that has been staring at me with bedroom eyes, saying read me, read me, read me.  Now, Now Now.

Thank god NaNo is over and I can get stuck in and read something other than my own writing.

Now the only hard decision is deciding which one to start with first…

NaNoWriMo: The Madness of Writing

I am a crap writer. 

My spelling is appalling, my grammar even worse and I break every writing rule there is and probably alot more. Before I started writing I never knew there were so many rules.  Passive voice, active voice.  Past tense, present tense.  Show, not tell.  Gerunds...

Ahhh!!!

It's enough to make you want to throw the bloody manuscript out the window or take up drinking or eat vast amounts of chocolate.

Mmm, tempting...

Sadly none of these things are an option because a) I write and store everything on my laptop so throwing it out of the window is sooo not a good idea b) I don't like alcohol and c) though I may love chocolate it is not something that will make my writing any better, however much I wish it was so.

Not writing isn't an option either as my head is constantly filled with stories.

Finding out I'm a crap writer is, in truth, a little sad and disheartening.  Then again I am in surprisingly good company.  Dan Brown, Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, J K Rowling and many others have all been accused of being crap or hack writers.  

And though I don't consider myself nearly as good as them if I can write something that is at least half as good and is enjoyed by others I'd be pretty happy.

I'll certainly be getting plenty of practice.  50,000 words over 30 days.

Why, may you ask?

Well November is the annual National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for those in the know.  And I, along with a great many others, will be taking part.

Yes I know.  It sounds like madness and I'll probably be mad by the end of it or at the very least a little bit more loopy than I normally am.

Is it the end of November yet?

PS: Gerunds - and yes I had never heard of them before either.  Google as always to the rescue...

PS Again:  Since I am busy preparing for NaNoWriMo, i.e. skiving off by not writing or reading and instead watching the latest episodes of Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, etc  I have instead borrowed from the web goddess herself, Tosca and posted some weblinks that I have come across recently in my web travels.

Happy webbing or writing or whatever the case may be.

The Weird, The Wonderful and The Downright Strange...

Abebooks Weird Room  
http://www.abebooks.com/books/weird/index.shtml 

As you know I love bookie things so when I came across this book site that features "everything that's bizarre, odd and downright weird in books" I just had to share it.  How can you not love sites like this.

Amusing Planet
www.amusingplanet.com

I love travel and interesting places so this website is perfect of someone like me as it combines both.  Take a look and see some of the amazing things that are on our planet. 

Coursera
https://www.coursera.org

I love the idea of this website which offers around 200 courses that are taught at universities around the world for free.  All you have to do is enrol and pick what course you want to do.  Of course the only problem is, is that once you've finished you'll want to do another and then another...

The Blog Farm
www.theblogfarm.com

A website featuring blogs.  Over 3900 blogs.  Wow that's alot of blogs and lot of web reading.  I think I've died and gone to heaven...

BoredPanda
http://www.boredpanda.com

This site is addictive.  Seriously.  Once you get started it's hard to stop.  There's something here for everyone.  From the truly creative and wonderful to the very weird and strange.