“There are times when a feeling of expectancy comes to me, as if something is there, beneath the surface of my understanding, waiting for me to grasp it.” – Sylvia Plath
Laughing gulls on Mustang Island on the Texas Gulf Coast, not too far from where Ridley sea turtles have nested. — Photo by Pat Bean
A November Challenge
This makes the seventh year I’ve signed up to do NANO, which is short for National Novel Writing Month that takes place November. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days.
A Ridley sea turtle laying her eyes on a Texas Gulf Coast beach. — National Park Service photo.
I actually completed the goal, and got my certificate, once. It was a great writing exercise but I ended up with a wobbly first draft whose protagonist I had fallen out of love with, and so that’s as far as I took the project. I’m hoping to do a little better this time around, which is why I’m now working on an outline of the mystery novel I’m planning on writing in November.
The last time I flew by the seat of my pants only. I wrote a mystery the first time around as well, and am repeating the genre because I love reading mysteries – the ones that focus on who-dun-it instead of blood and gore.
A just hatched sea turtle ready to battle its way to the ocean. — U.S. Fish and Wildlife photo
I’m going to use the things I liked from my first NANO completion, mainly the setting along the Texas Gulf Coast and the story of the endangered Ridley sea turtles, but with new characters and a new plot.
Anyone interested in joining the challenge with me can sign up at: http://nanowrimo.org/ It’s free, and not a contest. The only person you have to please is yourself.
My goal for doing the challenge, besides completing a first draft of a novel, is to get myself back into the habit of writing more consistently on a daily basis.
Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.
Wish me luck!
Bean Pat: Glassine Visions http://tinyurl.com/h7gfdxn For Dale Chihuly fans.
P.S. Re NANO: Since 2006, hundreds of novels first drafted during NANO have been published. You can check out the list at: http://nanowrimo.org/published-wrimos
Pat Bean's blog 
Have you read the book, “The Wildest Woman in America?” You might like it. It is about a woman who devoted her life to saving sea turtles. She lived on Cumberland Island. Love your photographs and narrative!
Thanks Cindy. I’ll check out the book.
All the best, Pat!! I’ve been thinking about giving it a try. I have a fiction novel buzzing around in my head….
Thanks Mary Jo Good luck on your decision.
Good luck on your challenge! I may try it… gotta see if I can think of a topic 😉
Good luck! Sounds like a great idea…!