The Office of Letters and Light Blog

Thankful for Our Unsung Heroes

In 2002, my husband became a widower. How, do you ask? After all, I’m clearly not dead… this is not some posthumous ghost-written blog! 

Every November  I embark on the same writing journey you guys do. Some years I win, some years I don’t.

Every year, though, I leave someone behind. Someone very important to me. And he’s not alone. All over the world, languish the unsung heroes of NaNoWriMo. The supportive spouses. The significant others. The children. The mothers. The fathers. 

This Thanksgiving, I’ll be grateful for the many NaNo-Widowers. 

Mine married me—but only a few months into our marriage, I discovered my other love. NaNoWriMo. 

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When is a Writer a Writer?

I’m a new runner.  I’ve only been at it for a few months, after walking my very first 5K last year. I’m still overweight, so I’m far from fast, and I’m such a rank newbie that I often ask myself whether or not I can actually call myself a runner. I mean, don’t you have to run a marathon to count? Or run five days a week for a certain number of miles? 

I have a subscription to Runner’s World. I bought specialty running shoes at a running store after a proper fitting.  I am following a 5K training plan, even though I can’t run more than a few minutes at a time. When do I get to call myself a runner?

This insecurity isn’t limited to running. Or to any sport. Writers experience this as well.  Every so often, someone will come to the NaNoWriMo forums to ask, “When can I call myself a writer?”

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Break out your tents… we’re going Camping!

Are you looking for a new way to experience NaNoWriMo? Well, then, it is a good thing Camp NaNoWriMo season is upon us! Our virtual tent in the cloud is full of writers who are tackling the challenge to write 50K during June or August, and our first session is already upon us!

In the spirit of the season, some of our virtual Campers are dragging their laptops and notebooks out of their offices, dens, and living rooms, and toting them into the great outdoors. That’s right, they’re pitching an actual tent in their own backyards! Well, sorta. Some aren’t in their yards at all. There are those who are awesomely rigging a sheet tent in their living room, bedroom, or porch. Sure, these might be tamer wilds, but on the plus side, fewer mosquitoes (And for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, less frostbite, which is also a good thing)!

Join me in reminiscing about indoor camping and sheet tents, won’t you?

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I am here!

You may already know me, even if you don’t think you do. I’m known colloquially as Dragonchilde, the all-seeing, all-knowing moderator of the NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy forums.

Dragonchilde is the handle I chose for myself way back on November 3, 2002. I started writing on November 4, and had over 16,000 words that first day! I hit 28K on November 6. I finished on November 20, 2002. 

I also apparently invented NaNoWriYe. (Seriously, I had no idea.) 

Since that fateful November, I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo every year. Some years I’ve won, others I’ve lost. My current win record is 50k in ten days.  I don’t recommend that, by the way. I couldn’t use my right hand for a month thanks to carpal tunnel.  

In 2003, I volunteered as an ML for the Macon, Georgia region, where I helped build a strong region of great writers, including the most precocious and fun young writer I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. She started college, this year. (You know you’re getting old when the people who started NaNoWriMo at 12 go to college!)

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I didn’t win. And I’m okay with that.

So this year, I clearly didn’t win NaNoWriMo. It’s the first time since 2006 that I haven’t won, and it’s my first year not winning as a staff member.

This just wasn’t the year for me. I couldn’t get into my story idea (in spite of the incredible ideas offered to me by the NaNoWriMo community in response to my staff video). I didn’t have a lot of free time. Throw in my epically awesome trip to San Francisco right during crunch time when I should have been writing, and I just plain ran out of time.

And you know something? I’m okay with that.

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From East Coast to West Coast

I’m hardly the newest employee of the Office of Letters and Light, but I am one of the farthest from the home office. I’m a remote staffer, and as such, I do most of my work in the comfort of my own home: Georgia, home also to peaches and boiled peanuts. I sit on my couch, with my keyboard in my lap, and a cat curled up behind my head. 

This week, though, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting my own office for the first time. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to visit OLL? it’s awesome. Many of you can attest to the fact that it’s just plain cool; as a staffer, it’s even cooler.

I get to hang out. Eat sandwiches. Good sandwiches. With Dan Duvall.

I get to sit at Chris Angotti’s desk while he’s out of town.

I can hug Blobby. And Tim Kim. And Chris Baty. More than once. I’m really excited about hugging Blobby though. (Sorry, Tim!) 

Visiting California has been the most amazing experience. I’ve never traveled out of the South, so this has been something truly different. I’ve eaten well, I’ve seen so much neat stuff. 

I haven’t written a word. 

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Writing with a Kindergartener

This year, I have the pleasure of participating, not only in my 10th NaNoWriMo event, but also doing so alongside my five-year-old daughter. She’s always been imaginative, but previously wasn’t able to sit still long enough to participate. Now, though, my big kindergartener is ready for the Young Writers Program!

I set up a camera for her, and she tells me her story, in all its rambling, slightly incoherent glory. I finally (as of today) wrote more than she did, but she’s been steadily skunking me in word count!

It has been so incredible to see my own daughter take to writing the way I’ve always hoped at least one of my kids would. I guess it was inevitable. I did fail NaNoWriMo 2005 because I had her on November 16th (I still got 18K that year, though!), so she was born into the madness. It was natural that she should eventually join it. Yesterday, she thrilled me even more by joining me at a write-in, and asking me to help her write more of her story by herself. She drew her pictures, and then told me what she wanted to write. I wrote the sentence down, and she faithfully transcribed it. I didn’t correct her grammar.

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Write-Ins, Writing Buddies, and Moose

The single most awesome part of NaNoWriMo, to me, is the social aspect of the community. Of course, there are the forums, where I rule supreme (mwah-haha) which are absolutely invaluable for getting support, ideas, and camaraderie.

But where NaNoWriMo really shines are in-person meetups. All around the world, people meet other Wrimos, and just plain have fun.

Here in Macon, Georgia, where I live, we get together at least weekly. We have a ton of spirit, and even have a mascot. A moose. The Macon Mooselings chose their mascot because (of course) there are no moose in Georgia. Why else?

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A Diamond in the Rough

One of the most commonly asked questions on the NaNoWriMo forums is “How do I do this?” It seems like such a small question, with such a HUGE answer. It is, and it isn’t.

Over the last decade that I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo (technically it’s nine years, but this will be my tenth event) I’ve learned a lot about writing, myself, and the process of doing this insane word-count sprint. The age-old saying of the first draft being a “diamond in the rough” is old, and maybe a bit cliche… but it’s an accurate analogy.

Think of your NaNoWriMo novel as a diamond. In its finished form, it will be faceted, beautiful, a sparkling gem worthy of the whole world to see.

But if you’ve ever seen a diamond in the rough, you know that’s not how it starts.

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