In case you've never heard of it, NaNoWriMo is the annual "writers, get your stuff in gear!" event. Technically, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. Every year, from November 1st to the 30th, writers from all around aim to write EVERY DAY!

Some people have the goal to write a complete novel during that time, others may have the desire to write something every day. That's my goal, to write every day. It would be good to get to the standard goal of 50,000 words written through this month, but realistically, right now, it's unlikely. I've set my unofficial, "wouldn't it be great"  goal to 18,000 words, which comes to about 600 words a day. Some days I may write more, other days less; but I'd feel way accomplished if I reached that number.

When some people start NaNoWriMo on November 1st, they start with a fresh new project. I tried that once but didn't like the "rushed" feel of it and I didn't like most of what I'd written. So this goal of daily writing and hopefully reaching 18,000 words works so much better for me. Also, Chasing Shadows is a project I've already started. But I'm reporting my progress starting from what I've written on November 1, 2020.

What's good about the NaNoWriMo site is that you can log the progress of your writing, connect with other writers across the nation or in your area, and they have Zoom and Google meetups to get introduced to other writers. At the end, after November has passed on, if you've registered to to be a part of NaNoWriMo, you get a digital "NaNoWriMo Winner" certificate, whether or not you've reached your goal. And this is all for free (though they do ask for donations), just to get us solitary, procrastinating, very passionate and ambitious writers to write. How wonderful is that?

You may have heard of my project I'm writing on for NaNoWriMo. It's called Chasing Shadows. The story is summed up in this "working" blurb:
Six-year-old Isalia sits in the back of her father’s black Camaro and decides to never think of her mother again. Lee has kidnapped her to save her from his turbulent marriage. Isalia, afterall, is Daddy’s girl. Effie searches for her daughter and discovers things she never knew about her husband. Was Lee the loafer who became her batterer, or was he the courageous son defending his dying parents against money-hungry siblings? Maybe Isalia wasn’t stolen but left with whom she loved best. Chasing Shadows is one broken family’s odyssey to a final redemption or utter destruction.  
Well, I've got to go now...I haven't done my writing for today yet!

Click here to learn more about National Novel Writing Month.