NaNoWriMo, HolNoWriMo, and NaNoWriMo Bootcamp!

Long time no see, readers!

In just 11 days time, one of my favorite writing challenges of the year will kick off with a frenzy...NaNoWriMo!  I love everything about this challenge: The community, the incredibly tight deadline, and the idea that hundreds of other insane like-minded fellow writers are going to be right there with me as we all pound out as many words as humanly possible everyday for 30 days. 

I've competed in this challenge for the past 5 years (since 2008) and I still have yet to win!  Every year I say the same thing: This year is going to be different.  This year I'm going to win, dammit, no matter what it takes! And every year, when that doesn't happen, I feel like a total failure and just plain blah about myself and my writing and this year I really want to try and break that vicious cycle and try to not be so hard on myself and just have fun! 

And let's be honest, while NaNo is always a ton of fun, it's also a ton of work and I-like everyone else, I'm sure-don't always have the time, energy, and a lot of times the enthusiasm it takes to attempt to write 50k words in only 30 days on top of trying to juggle family, school, the holidays, and all those other day-to-day tasks that I'm still expected to complete every day (such as sleep, showering, eating, etc. You know, just the necessities, no biggie, right?).  So, with that mind, I wanted to let you know about an alternative to NaNo called: Holiday Novel Writing Months (aka HolNoWriMo) with Anne Riley! 

The idea behind HolNoWriMo is that instead of trying to write 50k in 30 days, you'll write 50k...in 61, from November 1-December 31!  Awesome, right?  It sounds so fun and it also sounds like a lot less pressure, which I'm totally down with!  So while I'm still competing in NaNo (Add me as a buddy, if you feel so inclined!) I'll also be competing in HolNoWriMo at the same time, which means that this year for NaNo I can take my time (well, sort of) since I'll have a whole extra month to write my first draft, yay! :)

And last but not least, I give you NaNoWriMo Bootcamp with Susan Dennard!  There's already a flourishing group over there on the forum and some great writing advice on Susan's blog, so, (along with NaNo and HolNoWriMo), go check it out!

Getting excited! :)
~Ella