By Lucky Tomaszek

When I mention I’m a writer, I find that lots of people have a novel brewing in the back of their heads. They’ve been picking at it for years, sometimes; waiting for the time, the talent or the wherewithal to sit down and commit it to paper. Some have well thought-out plot lines and characters, while others have a rough idea of what they want to say and how they want to say it. But regardless of where they are in the internal planning stage, most shrug it off as another thing they’ll probably never do.

I am one of these people! Or, at least, I was. I’ve been writing this column for over two and a half years. Additionally, I’ve written articles for professional journals and some short stories for myself and my friends. But a whole novel? What an overwhelming concept! I have kids and work and volunteer responsibilities. Would I have enough to say? And what would I do with it if I ever did manage to finish it?

Building character.About a year ago, I overheard an offhand comment while I was sitting at Bremen Café. And in that one comment the idea for an entire book sprang into my mind. I tried to give the idea away to several other writers, and even an independent filmmaker friend. I tried to push it down and out of my head, but it kept percolating. Still, it wasn’t something I was willing to take on myself. I had an image in my mind of stacks and stacks of dusty, unfinished manuscripts littering my little flat, serving as another reminder that I sometimes have a hard time finishing what I’ve started.

Then I heard about NaNoWriMo. It’s short for National Novel Writing Month and it happens every November. Last year about 42,000 people sat down with the goal of writing 50,000 words in thirty days; approximately 6,000 of them succeeded. The NaNo participants I met online said it was one of the most rewarding writing experiences of their lives. They had to push through all their own hang-ups and just write. Edit later, fret and panic later; write NOW! The support of writing with a group of people helped, too.

The idea appealed to me. It had two of my best enticements to productivity; a firm deadline and social activity. I was nervous because November is always hectic, but every other month is really just as crazy when you look closely. Fifty thousand words seems like a lot to pound out in a month, but when I broke it down it was really 1,667 words per day. That didn’t sound so bad.

I considered it for several months, worried about the toll it would take on my family life. When I’m on a writing tear I can get pretty focused on my keyboard. My kids aren’t babies anymore at five, seven and ten, but they’re young enough to need my attention for a large portion of every day.

Hatching a plot.I decided to talk to them about it. I explained that I had always wanted to write a novel, but that I was scared of not succeeding. I also told them about NaNo. It meant that I would be very focused for about a month, but that I would try to do most of my writing while they were in school. We went online and looked at www.nanowrimo.org together, so they could see what it was all about.

My kids never cease to amaze me. While Jeffrey, my five-year-old, was pretty indifferent, flashing me a thumbs-up and saying “That’s cool, mom,” the girls had a more enthusiastic response. My seven-year-old, Emma – who I believe will be the next writer in the family – asked if she was old enough to NaNo too, but then decided against it because it would take too much time from drawing and painting. Lena, my 10-year-old, was not only supportive but helpful. Lena helped me name my main character and come up with the working title. She plotted story lines with me and encouraged me all through the summer as I was doing the research I would need to start writing on November 1st.

I think I can, I think I can…I finally made the commitment. I told friends and family so that I would have their support. I purchased a flash drive to back up each day’s writing. For my birthday, my sister Jon Anne and my good friend Joel made me a NaNoWriMo survival kit, complete with coffee, ibuprofen, chocolate and a notebook to carry with me all the time.

We’re only about half-way through November at this writing, but so far it’s going well. I’m about 3,000 words ahead of schedule and I find that very exciting. Each day when the kids come home from school, they ask how the writing went and what my main character did during today’s writing. The girls offer me suggestions and try hard to protect my writing time. We joke about my story line and celebrate productive days together. I’m relieved to say honestly that writing this novel hasn’t caused any problems here at home.

Now, if you’ll excuse me… I have 1,667 words to write before the kids get out of school. And it’s an early release day. Happy Holidays!  VS