Freshman at NaNo Academy by Kenon Thompson

(source: team altman)

Here I am. A full time college senior, with a full time job in a restaurant, who owns his own business, preparing for a graduate school interview, and is in some way a part of at least 5 or more clubs on campus. Now I dare add to this hectic day to day schedule, to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

Crazy right?

For me it's normal. Writing and I have been in love since I was a 1st grader who decided that writing in cursive made me seem older than I was. I must admit though, I am pretty nervous about the moment when November 1st will be on the lower right hand of my computer screen.

So what are my goals for NaNo?

1) Go above the average word count per day in order to assure I hit 50,000 words on 30 days.

· 50,000 words total / 30 days = 1,666.66666666 words. Okay so it's obvious that everything after 1,666 words is irrelevant... Unless I just consider the .66 etc., as a word not yet complete... For example, "and in the best of times the compl... (full word being complete)" counts for .66 etc of a word.

2) Create characters that are similar to my life, without actually telling my real life story.

· Here is the part that keeps me up at night during my outlining sessions. I am currently working on my autobiography and although this may not be released for quite some time, what if my novel is pretty amazing and in the near future actually gets published? My life is pretty amazing at this point, and I want my main character to have similar qualities of me, yet have his own identity.

3) Shoot original photos for the book.

· Okay, I understand this isn't a kids 5+ book project. Would you believe that I am a photographer as well? Well, it's true! I am a photographer! And instead of closing your eyes to vision what the characters and the various scenes look like in your head, I want you to actually see photos of the scene in the book.

4)  Keep a log of how much coffee I actually drink for the whole month.

· I admit, this is just an extra haha something I can look back at and laugh. I usually drink 8 cups of coffee a day on average. I genuinely love coffee! I don't drink to stay up all night. But it definitely is a great buddy to have on my side at 3:00 in the morning.

5) Try not to go insane!

·  Have you read the first paragraph of this post? I must add here that I am a freshman to NaNoWriMo! I've read about stories on the NaNoWriMo forums. I believe that writers have a completely different mindset when it pertains to "what’s right." Ever have that moment when you were writing story only to look 50+ pages into writing it and that inner critic says "hey, do you really think this can continue on "right" for the next 150+ pages?"

“Insanity likes company” indeed. I'm excited to write a great novel as well as make some new friends throughout this project!

What are YOUR goals for this year’s NaNo? Are you a freshman too or a senior?

In Kenon Thompson's words... I remember in the 1st grade when my teacher Mrs. Jordan first exposed me to cursive writing. I literally fell in love with it so much, that I stopped writing in print from that time on (unless it was necessary/mandatory). During my middle school and high school days, I began writing quotes that came to mind. Now, as a college kid, I have become way more versatile in my writing. My expertise is in the genres of food, journalism, and poetry. In coherence with my love for photography, what I love most about those genres is the room for creativity that I have. Currently I am working on a quote/poetry book, my first cookbook and my first [food] memoir. My plans as of right now are to have all of them self-published by me, unless some nice publishing company would love to publish them for me which I have no problem with at all haha! :)