My November with NaNoWriMo

I know you were probably expecting a post about Halloween. A couple of weeks ago, I would have thought the same thing, but then I learned about NaNoWriMo and my life changed in an instant.

What is NaNoWriMo??

Simply put NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It takes place from November 1st - November 30th of each year and is open to anyone who wants to take the leap. The leap being that in that space of time you write 50,000 words of a novel.


I was sitting in my doctor's office waiting room when I read all about it. I was just sitting there... I was just waiting and when I saw the description I thought, "This is EXACTLY what I've been waiting for!"

I signed up right then and there using my iPhone and felt an excitement in my bones I haven't felt in a long, long time.

That was eleven days ago.

24 hours from now I will be feverishly typing away just like I am now, except not for this blog.

I hope my hands can take it!!

OH NO! What Does This Mean for Rivera Runs Through It?!

Readers, you should not worry! Rivera Runs Through It is going to flow along just like normal (except that I might be light on posts during Thanksgiving week). Tomorrow you will get your What if prompt (one that I'm pretty excited about, in fact), Wednesday will give you yet another excerpt from my Reading Journals and by the end of this week you will know all my secrets about how to see Broadway shows for next to nothing!

The week after that will continue with our regular bloggy goodness as usual! The only thing that I think I might be a little light on this month will be my participation in the Write on Edge writing prompts for the obvious reason that I will be devoting all types of creative writing juices to my novel (OK... that sounds crazy to me! Awesome, but completely nuts!).

If Everything Is Going to Be Fine, Why Mention It At All?

Two days ago I received my first official e-mail from the NaNoWriMo group which laid out a sketch of what the month of November will look like. Here's what they had on the agenda for this week:

Warn your friends, family, neighbors, and pets about the upcoming challenge. The more people who know what you're working on, the more accountable you'll feel and the likelier you are to hit the 50,000-word goal. (And the family hamster will be a lot more understanding when you don't refresh his chlorophyll chips as regularly.)

So I'm warning you and I'm asking for your support.

Are There Any Cheerleaders Out There?

I am going to have to write 1,667 words per day for every single day of November if I want to make it. While I am all amped to do this right now, I am quite certain I will be hitting all types of walls during the month, so any words of encouragement either through e-mail, twitter, or on Facebook would be greatly appreciated. I'm pretty sure I can do this, but I'm not sure I can do it alone!

The Burning Question: What I'm Writing About

I really love my Sasquatch notebooks :)

In the last eleven days of planning I went through a number of outlines, characters, story ideas and scenarios until one finally stuck. It was funny, I thought it would be a struggle all the way through, but once I found the right idea for me right now things just started flowing - no, flooding - into my brain. The characters came to life, the story began to unravel itself into major plot points in my Sasquatch notebook.

I've had a really hard time writing a synopsis (mostly because I haven't written the novel yet!!!), but let's give it a go again...

I'm writing a YA (Young Adult) novel. This should come of no surprise to those of you who remember I am recently home from a 12 year stint as a high school Math Teacher. I know YA. I lived YA. I also happen to love reading YA novels myself.


In high school I always kept a diary. I also always used to write notes to my friends. I just wondered what if I wrote notes to someone I didn't even know... The working title for this novel is is Dear 302 inspired by the fact that a girl, Rachel, with locker number 302, keeps getting mysterious notes addressed in such a manner by the end of each day from an enigmatic character named "B." B doesn't know Rachel and Rachel, who just wants to fit in in her first year of high school, has no idea what's going on!

I don't want to say much more for fear of telling you the whole story before the details are even hashed out, but that's your teaser for the day! I hope it's enough to intrigue you for now!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year?

If so, are you a newbie like me?

Do you have questions about Dear 302? Post them! They may inspire me to take a new plot turn, or be something that is already addressed!

What other types of Internet Challenges have you participated in?