Use Evernote

Well it’s the end of October, the clocks went back and that means it’s that time of year again. By that I mean NaNoWriMo (NaNo) – which stands for National Novel Writing Month. I first learned about NaNoWriMo when one of our forum members mentioned that she was turning her post-split pain into gain by writing a children’s book. I thought this was an amazing idea.

In the past, I’ve taken part in NaNo  three or four times. Usually successful, but last time I abandoned it after the first week. I promised myself if I did it again I’d be sure to have an actual story, a plan, a beginning – middle – end. The trouble is I never think that way…

For years now when NaNo comes around I’ve had this idea that many site members should come together to do a combined SYBD book. All stories about relationships or their break up (preferably in an inspirational sort of way rather than a bitter rant – ha!) so the same sort of theme through out. How fun would that be?

Basically NaNoWriMo is:

- writing 5o,000 words in the month of November. That equates to just 1667 words a day or so. That’s pretty doable isn’t it?

- plowing ahead and not going back to re-read what you wrote the day before. November’s NaNo is meant to be a rough draft, a first one at that, so each day you keep pushing forward. (This is good advice in break up recovery too, now that I think about it)

- when mental blocks happen – you have to keep writing – even if that means that you start typing your shopping list out. You don’t censor yourself and the theory is you tap into this subconscious creativity in there as you flow. There have been many-a-time when doing NaNo where I just had to write whatever was on my mind, and sometimes that would be my To Do list until the ideas started coming again.

One thing that is different to this year over previous years is I can use a program like Evernote to write it while out and about. I can write notes as they come to me on my Blackberry, or my iPod/iPad and they’ll all be accessible on my Evernote account. This basically means I don’t have to wait until I am home at my computer to write any ideas that flow to me. Hopefully that will help if I decide to do it again this year…

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

Not going through a break up this year (as such), I’ve been nose-to-the-grindstone with my job, but whenever I have been coming up for air, I’ve been grappling with themes and ponderings of singledom (its perks and pitfalls), how a successful relationship is actually defined (and who actually has one), morally gray areas (mental or physical infidelity), the complexities of the human condition etc. . . So maybe I put those into this year’s novel?

It kicks off at midnight tonight – so the question is should I or shouldn’t I take part in this year’s NaNo? Are any of you doing so? To me there are few better challenges than turning pain into gain by channeling one’s emotions into something creative and cathartic like a novel or novella,  a song,  a painting – a play – a whatever!

I find it’s a good way to spend time, especially when getting over a break up. It’s good to have a goal. It’s good to have something positive to focus on. It’s good to channel all those highs and lows into it like Chris Manby did with her book (Running From Richard).

If you’ve holding the pen, so to speak, what a fantasic way to write your own ending! Besides, unless you’re in the southern hemisphere, November is a dark, cold, challenging month anyway. What better way through it than to write a book about whatever takes your fancy?

Heck, even if you’re not suffering with a broken heart it’s a good challenge to set yourself for a month!

Ok, so who’s with me?