The Nanos Are Coming! The Nanos Are Coming!

nano - a combining form with the meaning “very small, minute,” used in the formation of compound words (nanoplankton); in the names of units of measure it has the specific sense “one billionth” (10 -9 ): nanomole; nanosecond.
(courtesy of Dictionary.com)

Of course, that has nothing to do with NaNoWriMo - the month-long maniacal attempt to push out a word-count of 50K in a mere 30 days. It's insanity, I tell you.

Unless you are (1) independently wealthy, (2) have no responsibilities (and I mean NONE - short of getting yourself to the toilet; adult diapers eventually need changing) and (3) have no holidays to celebrate (Eid & Thanksgiving come to mind - but I'm sure there are more hiding somewhere...) - oh, and (4) a hermit, NaNo can be tricky to schedule in between working, social/familial commitments, chores - y'know daily life.

Those of you smart-alecks who pound out several thousand words a day - shut up. This is for the rest of us.

Here is some motivation:
Wear your Pants of Shame. These are literal pants and if you want to get in on the action (but have no time to knit/crochet/sew), go to your local thrift shop and find the ugliest pants you can afford; don't be afraid! You know they are out there, lingering in a bin because no one wants them. Really. Follow the rest of the directions in the link and you're set for Nano 2011!

You can knit/crochet/sew yourself a proper pair later - and really punish yourself.

Though I do feel that the definition "very small, minute" makes a lot of sense here - being that (on average) a novel can be anywhere around 80K - 100K, which means your 50K comes up a mite short. The actual writing process is also blasted out in a very brief span of time (again, those of you who can write novels in under 30 days, shut up). It just a coincidence, naturally, but NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. There ya go.

Another place (outside of the Nano forums) for fellow crazy people, I mean writers:
Nanowrimo-For The Win

So, anyone else out there doing this? Every year I try, every year I lose - but I keep writing. That either means I'm a writer or I'm an idiot. Maybe both.

If you want to do some fun prompts to get you prepped before the big month, go wander over to CurlyViking's blog and try out the writing challenges she's posted. I'm going to try the latest (1500+ words, use an element from the periodic table, 3rd person, extra points for a non-scientific story) and see what I come up with.

Of course, I still have that other story I started on Saturday that really should get pounded out quick...can someone please throw me a writing-life-preserver? Please?