I am now an official NaNoWriMo rebel! Chances are if you are a writer, you know about NaNoWriMo . It’s all about commitment – writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I wasn’t going to participate this year. I didn’t want it to interfere with my memoir writing process. But, I discovered a way around that. I can be a REBEL! Some may say this is cheating but the bottom line is this – there is a NaNo Rebels forum buried in NaNo Groups. That’s the place to confess that you might not be writing the crappy NaNo novel. It is there that I have revealed my quest for this year – I will be revising my memoir. Every hour I spend doing revisions, or writing new chapters, will count as 1,000 words. It’s okay. It’s been approved by the powers that be per the FAQs.
Now I feel the need to make another confession. I have completed NaNoWriMo three times. My 2012 novel, Mayleen, is fiction based on how I wished certain things had worked out in my life. The other two were based on my autobiography. The interesting thing about that is the titles of these previous attempts: Always 49 (2004 – I’ll never grow old) and You Don’t Want to Know (2009 – stuff that probably won’t end up in my final memoir). My current working title is Never Let Them See Your Tears. This is the one that is meant to be published someday. Notice I said “working title.” It’s likely to change again once it is done.
Now that things are a bit more serious, and my current goal is to finish my first draft by the end of the year, I’m taking this opportunity to cheat my way through NaNoWriMo for the month of November. Challenges work for me. So, call me a cheater if you must but it’s much more enticing to be considered a rebel.
WittBits 
All the best for your writing in November. I would never manage that many words in a month.
Have a nice weekend.
You could do it – only 1667 words a day. One day at a time.
Most excellent, Marjorie! For months I’ve been considering doing it again (a winner in 2014), but I couldn’t come up with a story I wanted to tell. (As it turns out, it would have been impossible to commit the time this go-round.) But I could have joined your rebel self in working on the memoir. Go get ’em!
We shall see how it goes. If 1 hour of revision only equals 1000 words, I may have shot myself in the foot.
You’re not cheating; you’re being creative with your interpretation of an assignment — something a writer is allowed to do in my book.
Prosaic license, I’d say 🙂
Nice to hear from Witt Bits! I am impressed. Are you still dancing with Millie?
I got lazy after a bad back episode and haven’t been dancing. Nice to hear from you. What’s new?
I am living in Florida, line dancing and writing on WordPress – https://twittiewise.com
Can you please send me the link to the video your son featured in.? How is he? What happened to your back? I am so sorry. You are a bright light in my life. A comrade in arms
Dogtown Redemption is available on Amazon Prime. More info at dogtownredemption.com maybe. Son is the same. I’m Just getting old and arthritic with some bursitis in the mix. Nice to keep in touch with you and I’m glad to see you’re writing.