What if I tried? – But what if I failed?

Okay I have to admit it, NaNoWriMo is kicking my butt. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of writing a novel, have a plan in place and have written approximately five chapters so far that I believe are an excellent start. My problem is staying on track and not swaying from the path. I started strong and was highly excited about writing a novel in a month, but now halfway through the month I’m nowhere near halfway to 50,000 words.

Not to make any excuses, but when I’m able to get time to actually write for my story I only write a paragraph or two and then start drifting. I start thinking about the progress of the story and what I want to do with it later on. How do I get to these later parts of the story if I don’t write the beginning and middle sections first?

Along with this I’ve been keeping up with several challenges and writing prompts. These are all fun, quick ways to tell a short story and have some fun with writing, but now I’m starting to wonder if a short, quick read is all I am good for. Of course I know I haven’t failed yet. There are still have a couple weeks left and I could hit a flow and write thousands of words in just a few hours. I know this is still possible.

There have been a couple posts I’ve read where bloggers have said they are already past the 50000 word mark and I’m extremely happy for them, but at the same time a little pissed they have to go and brag about it for me to see. I start thinking “Wow, writing a novel is tough” then I see one of these posts and think “If they are able to do it, then I should be able to.”

So how do I get my creative juices flowing and keep my mind concentrating on my story. It would be a great feat for me to finish this month and “Win” NaNoWriMo, but even if that doesn’t happen I plan to finish the story. Maybe I’m just not a one month novel writer or maybe just not yet. I haven’t given up, but I’m not as confident as I once was. I’m off now to do a little more writing.

Thank you for reading and listening to my ramblings. Please send me a little luck if you have any extra to give.

What if I attempted NaNoWriMo?

So am I completely crazy to attempt NaNoWriMo this year? I just started writing a few odd stories and created this blog earlier this year. I have enjoyed it a lot, but also I’ve had an idea in my head for a while now that I thought could make a good screenplay or novel if I just took the time to write it.

One of my presents from Santa last year was the Final Draft screenwriting software. It was purchased for me as a response to my talking up how great a screenplay I thought this story would make. My problem was I discovered I didn’t have the knowledge to write a screenplay, but I still got started trying. I read a bunch of how to’s, but eventually got sidetracked from it around the time I found blogging.

So I noticed the novel writing month and debated whether I could do it. I finally decided that if I tried and failed, worst case I would have some subject matter for my blog. So I signed up and established my info. I’ve written a first chapter for my story and so far have just over 600 words. Only 49,400 to go!

I still plan on trying to post daily on my blog and continue to have great What if challenges throughout the month. Wow, I really have lost it haven’t I? Any motivational speeches you can give would be most appreciated. If I pull off the novel would anyone be interested in a copy? It’s a story that involves aliens, teleportation, government conspiracies, police work and a love story.

I’m hoping I can turn all that into 50,000 or more words. If you’re interested in updates or excerts of the story let me know and I’ll try to post them. Thank you to everyone for the support you’ve already given me over the last few months. If not for this blog and the community here at wordpress I would never have the courage to attempt such a feat.

So here goes nothing. wish me luck!