NaNoWriMo for me

Last year was my first year participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and it was a mix of fabulous and torturous. Overall, it was fun to write my first complete novel, an Argentine tango murder mystery that I hope someday to make available as an ebook. At the time, I spent the whole month leading up to NaNoWriMo reading books about writing techniques, including books that were specifically targeted for writing a murder mystery, and I was geared and ready to go for my first book.

This year, NaNoWriMo arrived without much warning. I had some creative ideas bouncing around my head, including a science fiction thriller, but between research and writing research papers and still working on treatment, I am defaulting on a book with an eating disorder/recovery theme. I was originally going to try writing from the first person perspective of a guy in treatment, but I quickly switched to writing from my own perspective, fictionalizing my own story, more for me than for any readers I might (never) have.

So, this year, I am truly writing for me. I am hoping that this NaNoWriMo “book” will help me sort through my process of developing an eating disorder and working through recovering from it. That said, I have been making slow progress this year compared to last year. I am a couple thousand words behind, which is intimidating compared to the people posting on wordpress that they hit their 10,000 word mark (1/5 of the way through the challenge) by day 3. I need to learn to stop comparing myself, which should help free up my energy for writing.