Posted in Me

A year or two ago, my father bought me the book "Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies."  This is something I had flirted with about a decade ago.  Then last year when my husband and I decided I should work, one of the things he kept telling me was that I should write romances.  At the end of the school year when my teaching job was ending, I began to seriously consider it.  I had planned to start writing before Brogan was born, but then late pregnancy inertia kicked in and I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING. 

So, I have been thinking about the plot of the romance I started writing ten years ago, and there was a character I just couldn't get a handle on.  So I haven't started writing.  In the meantime, I got another idea and really like it.  And then I saw some information about the NaNoWriMo contest.

NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.  In November people all over the world commit to try to write 50,000 words in the month.  It's a way to make you turn off your "inner editor" and just get writing.  In December you can go back and edit and polish.  I had heard of this before and thought it might be just the thing to get me going, even if I can't make 50,000 words (you know, the pesky details of life: 7 kids, homeschooling, housework, they all want to eat several times a day...).  But I am going to try my darnedest!  My husband has assured me that it's not insane to do this. And coincidentally, the series I would like to write my romance for requires a 50,000 word manuscript.

I feel like I really have a chance now to try this and see if I can do it.  Roger is covering all our bills, I am home and don't want to go out, and while I liked teaching and would do it again if necessary, it's draining and I have my own children to teach.  And at this point, I don't want to leave Brogan at all. However, eventually I will have to start earning some money again, so if I could actually write romances and get them published, I could make money that way.  I also like that, by writing romances, I can use all my life experiences and interests.  It's always been difficult for me to narrow things down and choose one thing to focus on.  This way, I wouldn't have to!

So I might not be blogging much in November.  Maybe I'll just post my word count.  If you are interested in doing this yourself, the website is www.nanowrimo.org. I do intend to blog a lot this week in preparation for starting on Saturday.  So wish me luck, or if you don't believe in luck, then pray for me!