I was seated between a UAH professor of social anthropology and her husband and a retired DoD technical writer and his wife. Our table had a teacher that had not only participated in the regular NaNoWriMo for the past several years, but that had also run her own group of teen participants for her high school classes. We had a participant who’s never written fiction before… ever. Our table ruled! There was such diversity in background and goals that I don’t think there were less than two conversations going at any given time: from the time the table was filled, until Bryan Jones and Amy Herring stood to make their ML presentation.

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, for the uninitiated, and the event starts today. Jump in by visiting the NaNoWriMo website anytime. If you live in Northern Alabama, make sure to join our Google calendar and the North Alabama NaNoWriMo Group as well.

Amy mentioned that she will be populating the calendar shortly. Until then, the write-in schedule is:

• Thursday evenings 6-8pm (except for Thanksgiving) at the Atlanta Bread Company on University, in the Target strip mall area.
• Saturday afternoon write-ins will also be held from 1 to 3pm, starting at Starbucks on Governor’s Drive, and possibly moving to the Books-A-Million at University and Memorial Parkway. Amy said she’ll definitely add locations to the calendar for future events.

Write-in amenities include:

• Atlanta Bread Company - regular tables and chairs, plus a large table near a fireplace where we can all sit if someone gets there soon enough to hold it for us, a few power receptacles (someone will bring a power strip for sharing), and free Wi-Fi.
• Starbucks - few small tables with nice comfy chairs, a couple of power outlets, and access to Wi-Fi with the purchase of a $10 Starbucks card.
• Books-A-Million - huge area of small tables and chairs with plenty of outlets. Wi-Fi access is provided with the purchase of a $25 access card.

I’ll be at the Atlanta Bread Company write-ins. The location is closer to my home, and I prefer to keep a flexible schedule for the weekends, which is “hubby time.” I’ve never joined in anything like a write-in before, so I look forward to the experience. I’m trying not to even form expectations because the only thing I have in my mind to compare it to is writing in a school environment, and that just rings a big red gong in my mind! I’ll jot another note after the first one to share how it goes.

Well, that’s it for the festivities for now. I’m off to check out a deal on Scrivener software for the Mac that one of the writers shared with us. They are supposed to be having a special NaNoWriMo trial version and winner sale. I might actually use my Mac if I get it. My husband will be so proud. Then it’s writing time. I have some catching up to do as several at our table reported a word count of 300-400 for the day already!

I found it sad that they only reported a 15% success rate for 2007 until I read a School Library Journal article that talks about a lot of students participating, why many of the drop out, and how the teens seem unaffected by delays due to priority changes and such. Many of them report that they are going to give it another shot this year. I find that attitude of “shake off the dust and hit it again” rather inspiring. I hope many of the adults that didn’t quite make it last year have the same intent and that more participants can finish this year.

I hope I can finish this year! Finish or not, I trust this, my first NaNo WriMo, will be an amazing experience. I just signed up. My user name is JMEdens and my home region is United States :: Alabama :: North. Please look me up and be my writing buddy, because we all need some support. :)

I’m feeling nuts, scared, and a wee bit desperate. While I have had thoughts about great books to write in the past, as I look over my notes, I don’t see any potentially gripping story or situation that I want to write about. Any muse I’ve ever had has deserted me. They deserted me as soon as I started this blog actually.

Isn’t it strange how I’ve always scribbled and thought about stories and, just as I start to use media to share those ideas, they all run screaming for the woods, leaving me standing alone to face the bright light of my self-imposed blog deadline? Maybe not really, I suppose others have performance anxiety. There sure are tons of bloggers that roll those posts out, though. Surely I can overcome mine, too.

I’m currently unemployed and I have about five more months of savings left before I absolutely have to get another job. I propose that if I can’t open up and find the book inside me, with five months of more free time than I’ve ever enjoyed in the past, then I probably need to face the fact that it’s not going to happen, and look for more productive outlets for my creativity. So, that’s what I’m going to do! I’m going to write a novel!

Why do you care? I doubt you do. I’m posting this nerdy self-promise on my blog so that the other four people that subscribe to Neonjade can hold me accountable, if they like. My husband is one of them, so I know I’ll get the sharp end of a pointed stick from him if I laze, at least.

I’ll keep up the blogging with:
• Tidbits on my progress
• Reports of what’s working for me and what’s not
• Reviews and thoughts of whatever I’m reading at the time
• Wisdom I glean researching and reading advice from much more experienced writers than me.

If you follow me on Twitter, I’ll also keep posting:
• Writing contests I come across (one of them inspired my plan on writing my book… details in another post,)
• Retweeting writing and author related tweets I see,
• Banal observations I just have to share… “look, what a beautiful day!”

Alright, I’ve now got the plan, I’ve put it in writing, and you’re reading it on the internet now, so it must be true. Wish me luck and I’ll see you again tomorrow :)