Doesn't Everyone Nano?

(Melodramatic disclaimer for yesterday: Okay, so I was rather dramatic yesterday. In that time which I said that I spent working only on characters and Nano I also went shopping and had lunch. It wasn't all work. It just felt that way.)

I woke today with tired eyes and seriously considered not Nanoing. I'm over two days ahead, so a break wouldn't hurt me. However, by 4:00 this afternoon, Madison was calling. As her willing slave, I capitulated and sat my butt down in front of the computer, managing to get over 300 words above my minimum.

However, I did a Nano no-no today: I went back into text I'd already written. I justify this by saying that I hardly deleted any previous text, I just added more. I realized yesterday (after finishing writing and laying around with my eyes closed and moaning pathetically) that the scene I'd written lacked purpose. Today I went back in and added purpose and plot advancement. I'm very pleased with the results even though I'm technically at the same story point where I ended yesterday. Those extra bits of information and conversation that I added today give real depth to the story and characters. Victory is mine!

I ran into an old coworker today who knew me when I was still working on my first novel, Areia. He asked how the writing was going. I asked him if he'd heard of the National Novel Writing Month in November. He hadn't. I said, "It's been keeping me busy." He still didn't get what it was. I wanted to ask him how he could not know about NaNo WriMo! Isn't it the central focus of everyone's lives? How is it not being reported on the news every night, broadcasted across the sky in those fancy plane writings, advertised ad nauseam on the radio? It feels that central to my life. But seeing his blank expression when I said "NaNo WriMo" brought me back to reality. I had to explain, "It's a challenge to write a book in a month, so I've been pounding out 50,000 words this month." He was suitably impressed.

Then he asked how I could do it. To which, I wanted to respond, "How can I not? How can you not? It's the chance to write a novel in month. It comes with a built-in support group. It's the opportunity to become a published author by getting another novel into text. How incredible is that! Grab a pen! Get busy." Instead, I only shrugged.

I think you either get it or you don't; you either have that drive or you don't. The authors out there understand. The rest of you, well, I don't understand you, either, but I'm glad you like to read!