:: WHY WE BE ::

Boo to false, self-imposed limits, we say. These champion oracles want to live enthusiastically. Follow our trip through projects that challenge, frustrate, and/or scare us. In the end (which is really the middle) we want to live like big bright free and authentically awesome people.




Sunday, October 31, 2010

Clarity or Carpal Tunnel? (Becky)

I signed up for NaNoWriMo last night, about two hours before the November 1st kickoff, which is also about the same time I chose my COFFEE project. And I chose my project just a few hours before I was scheduled to post my first blog. So I need the pressure of a deadline to get anything done. Why is that? Maybe this is one of the many things about myself that I’ll explore in my 50,000 word novel. So to back up a little, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. All I have to do is write 50,000 words in the month of November. 50,000 words that somehow hang together to form a “novel” (read memoir) and I win! Here’s the link in case you want the details http://www.nanowrimo.org/

This is a good strategy to help me tackle my fears while still avoiding them. Does that count? You see, if I decided to try and understand my fear of relationships by blogging about my adventures in online dating (fear #1 if you refer to intro page about becky), there exists the potential to be embarrassed and expose myself to the dreaded vulnerability (fear #4). If I chose to do a specific project such as take a painting class or get back into photography; that would require a certain level of decisiveness and commitment (fears #3 and #2, respectively). But signing up for NoNaWriMo was accomplished with little forethought or planning, signing up takes seconds! (Can you tell I’m still in denial about the daily writing?) And since only my keyboard will be privy to my ramblings, I’m won’t be stricken with the same anxiety regarding the inadequacy of my musings as I am when I think about updating my status on facebook (fear #5).

So by avoiding all these fears publically on the blogsite, I will face them head on privately through a sort of forced journaling. Just me and my laptop. And I think I’m ready to be vulnerable in front of my laptop. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, for a brief moment, I was a writer. And that’s the end of that story. For some reason, I stopped writing. Then I stopped feeling guilty about not writing, and eventually I stopped even thinking about writing. But I do remember that writing had a way of making things seem clearer and truer. Writing unravels complexities, helps to illuminate contradictions and inconsistencies, helps me to sort out where I stand and what I think. So I will write 1,667 words everyday for 30 days (give or take).

By writing a 50,000 word novel in one month, I will regain my creative confidence, start posting fabulous facebook updates and comments, figure out what’s behind my fear of commitment and relationships and teach myself to make clear cut decisions without wavering or second guessing! I will gain insight into who I’ve become and where I’m going. Through quantity over quality, by resisting the temptation to edit, by writing in sheer volume, the answers to my deepest questions will be revealed and will guide me towards a lifetime of happiness and fulfillment! Or maybe I’ll just get carpal tunnel syndrome.

5 comments:

patresa hartman said...

BECKY! I'm so excited you're doing nano! I think that's a fantastic idea and a great way to lay out all the pieces and touch them. Yes. Totally counts.

Plus, nano, especially starting around 20,000 words, really has a way of pulling out every strand of crazy you didn't know you had. That is very scary. It's SCARY!

Loving the first post here, Cool B.

Tanner May (Tanya) said...

Woo! I love that you refer to this as the November 1 Kickoff! You guys are amazing.... writing EVERY-DAY!

I'm going to enjoy reading your thought sorting in a knock your socks off kind of way, Becky!

amy said...

Becky, I stand in awe of you, you NaNoWriMo writer! I've started NaNoWriMo in the past (years 2005 and 2007 to be exact...I think I just briefly pondered it in 2006) and only got to about 2,000 words each time. Which is barely even two days of writing, in NaNoWriMo time.

And I agree--writing and vulnerability go together, and both are HARD. I give you and your project an A+ already. I'm so looking forward to watching you break down all your scary walls and build up your creative ones. Gooooo Becky!

Tawni said...

I am also in awe of you for doing NaNoWriMo! I am hoping to work up to it by next year, and I will have to do some serious work to get there. You are already amazing. :)

Wendy said...

Becky, that's super rad that you're doing NanoWriMo (it makes me feel like Mork from Ork to say that). Adventures in online dating / memoir? Love that! Please post excerpts here on COFFEE!