Writing Buddies

by Carrie Bailey

Today is the third day of NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. The challenge: write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The writers: well, they must be crazy, right? This is my first year of participation. I have a few buddies signed up and I’ve started pounding away at the keyboard.

Thanks to a bout with the flu that has kept me bedridden for two days, I’ve written 7,000 completely unedited words. Although I wouldn’t say my Dayquil inspired ramblings are my best work yet, I have learned something in these early days.

Companionship is the writer’s secret weapon. Whether through the people I know from work or through social media, I’m a better writer for hearing their advice. There’s a stereotype of a writer as a recluse. It’s easy to believe it when you consider that writing requires hours spent alone. Yet, the writing is a venture in communication.

Whoever you write for or write with, you grow from those connections. I find that NaNoWriMo has done something to motivate me like nothing else could. I must write this month. I must finish a novel or I’ll suffer an unthinkable fate.

I don’t know exactly what that fate is, but I’m sure it’s there and I’m motivated to avoid it. I’ve committed myself to sharing my work at the end of the month. That commitment and the buddies I’ve signed up to support and encourage keep me writing.

So, come hell or high water, I’ll be holding a novel in my sore keystroke damaged fingers before the next moon cycle. What a thought! Thanks writing buddies!