Wednesday, October 17, 2012

RTW: NaNoWriMo ... Oh how I wish!

Another hump day which means another Road Trip Wednesday - one of my weekly highlights!

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog hop hosted by YA Highway! The lovely ladies at YA Highway post a topic and everyone writes their answers to the questions on their blog before hopping all over the place to check out all the other answers. It's fun!

This week's question.... Are you doing NaNoWriMo, or have you ever? Does having a deadline inspire you?

The short answer is no. To be honest I only recently found out about this. I'm sorry, I've been living in a cave and should really hold my head in shame.

The longer answer.... I really, really want to do it. It would be such a great experience and would be so much fun! Unfortunately my American work visa expires in November and I'm then taking off with my significant other on a two month road trip across America! (I'm bound for St Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, Montgomery, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Denver, Vegas, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Long Beach, Anaheim, San Diego, Los Angeles!) So I'm going to be on the road without a computer for a good part of November, December and January. I'll be in full on tourist mode and will be beyond exhausted.... so unfortunately the prospect of entering NaNoWriMo isn't even a possibility this year. I will be spending countless hours on buses and a few airplanes here and there so will be getting plenty of reading done!

Next year however, I will hopefully have finished my WIP (which has been in the planning phases for the last six months but I'm holding off writing it until I'm back in New Zealand in January and can give my full devotion to the book), and I'll have plenty of peaceful me time that can be devoted to NaNoWriMo. I'm looking forward to it already! I must confess, I have spent a lot of time pouring through the website wishing I could sign up, but I must be patient! Patience, they say, is a virtue.

Just to give you something pretty to look at, this is the view from the balcony of my little piece of paradise, my writing retreat in New Zealand. If I'm lucky and work doesn't get in the way too much, I'll spend my NaNo month up there next year, pumping out a story!


As for the part about the deadline - I love deadlines. I find it hard if I don't have an initial idea, but a deadline really puts my a into g and gets things moving. I often set deadlines for myself, which is why I haven't started writing my WIP yet beyond doing full on plot, setting and character breakdowns. One I start writing I'll be able to put a deadline on myself and work towards that. Without a deadline I'm known to flounder a bit like a fish out of water.

What about you... are you doing NaNo? Have you done it before? I want to hear all about your NaNo experiences! What do you think about deadlines? Do they help you or hinder your creative process?

32 comments:

  1. Wow! That trip sounds fantastic! I think I could easily ditch NaNo to do something this fun. :) As for NaNo, I'm not writing something from scratch (I did last year) but am going to finish something I started. It's a good opportunity to get my 'a in g', as you put it, and finish the thing finally. I like the idea of a deadline that isn't self-imposed. Self-imposed deadlines never seem to work for me because I can rationalize just about anything (like doing something instead of writing).

    Have a great time on your trip!

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    1. Haha is 'a into g' a Kiwi phrase? Yeah, the trip will be a lot of fun, an amazing experience! There's nothing quite like traveling and I'm hoping I'll get lots of inspiration for my future books!

      I agree, deadlines that are self-imposed you can talk away pretty easily, but those that are forced upon you like a college assignment are a little harder to ignore!

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  2. That RoadTrip sounds soooo cool! Take me with you LOL
    You know, there's also 2 CampNaNos during the year. In 2012, it was June and August. Soon we'll see which months they will be in 2013, and maybe you can take part of those as well ;)

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    1. Haha I'll be blogging about the whole trip on my travel blog once I get back to the real world - www.vagabondduo.com - I guess that's a cheap way of coming along!
      I didn't know about those 2 CampNaNos! Thank you so much for telling me, I'll have to definitely check them out too!

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  3. Oh my goodness! Your road trip sounds awesome fun! I would love to take the family on a road trip across the country, but right now that would be prohibitively expensive (gasoline, hotels, meals for a family of 8!). Maybe when I've had a few NYT bestsellers... :) Please be sure to take pictures and post them when you get back!

    I skipped NaNo last year because I didn't have the time to commit to it. This year, I have the time, and I need to write this WIP, so it's really a no-brainer decision. It'll be my first, and hopefully not my last. As Juliana pointed out, there are other NaNo activities during the year you could participate in if you can't wait until next November. In the meantime, think of us sweating over our keyboards while you're exploring the highways and byways of the US. :)

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    1. Family of 8?! Gosh, that would be quite a feat to take on a cross country road trip! Maybe one day! It's a great way to see the country! I will most definitely write a post about it on here, and will be documenting all my trip over on my travel blog (www.vagabondduo.com) although they probably won't come until the trip is over!

      I read your post and I agree, with the ideas that have been kicking around in your head for the last year it's a great opportunity to get out there and get the WIP written!

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  4. Your road trip sounds like it will be amazing! You should get a pretty good survey of the south :)

    Deadlines grease my wheels. If I don't set a timeline, nothing gets done. For my current WiP, the big deadline was contacting someone to edit my story a couple months in advance. Once I had agreed on a date to send my story in, I was locked in and had to complete everything. I found it very helpful (even if I did spend half the day on D-Day polishing before sending my work out!)

    Hopefully you'll start February inspired by your travels with some great story ideas to start on.

    New follower -- my blog is nickieanderson.blogspot.com

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    1. Yeah, that's what I'm hoping, I'm really keen to fully explore the South. I'm sad I won't get to see too much of the North, and the mid-west etc but it's going to be fun!

      I agree, that's a really good way of describing it, deadlines really encourage you to get moving. Have followed you back :)

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  5. Oh traveling. My wallet is crying. I hope you get to participate next year. :D

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  6. Ah so jealous! Enjoy the roadtrip! :)

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  7. Wow. A real Road Trip...that will be so fun....and good grist for the fiction mill. You should have plenty of ideas by the time you're done...I'd think a notebook, to go along with your reading, would be a must.

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    1. I know! A little different from RTW! Will definitely give me lots of ideas, I'm sure. A notebook is a brilliant idea! I hadn't even thought of that!

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  8. There's always next year! The road trip sounds so amazing. I'm jealous. :) Have fun!

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  9. Your road trip sounds AH-mazing! As much as I'm excited for NaNo, I gotta say, your November looks way better! :)

    Best of luck on the open road! If you have time in Nashville, stop at the Pancake Pantry in Hillsboro Village - a grimy looking place with amazing food! *Drooling, wishing I could get to Nash for ham and pecan cakes.*

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    1. Oooh thanks for the rec! I'm going to put that on the list! Sounds delicious!!

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  10. Wow, a trip like that sounds life changing! Who knows how such an amazing experience could influence your writing? Happy travels and I hope you find lots of inspiration along the way. :)

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    1. I hope so too! I'm sure i'll stumble upon plenty of inspiration along the way!

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  11. While it's a bummer that you get to miss out on all the fun of NaNo, I'm totally jealous of your road trip.

    Are you going to Vancouver, Canada? It's been a little while since I've been up there, but they have a pretty awesome aquarium. And as far as Seattle goes, if you're into the coffee thing, I suggest going anywhere except Starbucks, just to get a proper experience :)

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    1. Haha yeah, it should be fun! Yes yes, i'll be in Vancouver for about a week! Should be awesome! Haha anywhere except Starbucks is a rule I generally try and live by! Thanks for the tips :)

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  12. Your writing retreat is gorgeous! Have a great time on your road trip!

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    1. Sorry! I overzealously clicked!

      I meant to say...

      Pushing aside my intense feelings of jealousy about your road trip(and awesome writing retreat locations) I know that you'll come away with scads of inspiration for future stories. I'm doing my fifth NaNo this year and have really enjoyed the experience.

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    2. Haha, aww i'm sorry for making you jealous! But I agree, I think I'll end up with tons of inspiration after the trip. 5th NaNo?! That's awesome! Good luck with it!

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  14. Amazing trip! If you like doughnuts, there's this place in Seattle called Top Pot Doughnuts that you MUST try. There are multiple locations, although I've only been to the one under the monorail tracks. You can actually see a picture of a doughnut from there on my blog (the post before this RTW) because I just got back from my third trip to Seattle (and my third trip to Top Pot!)

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    1. Oh my gosh, i LOVE doughnuts! Will definitely check that place out! Thanks for the tip, have never been to any of the places we're visiting before so need all the help we can get! Love the pics on your post :)

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  15. I have to say, I'm jealous you'll be traveling around the country while we're all stuck in front of our computers. :) Have an awesome time!

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    1. Haha aww, i'll be back in front of a computer in no time! Thanks so much!

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  16. Have a wonderful time visiting all those places! Sounds great!

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