NaNoWriMo and me
I've seen eloquent rants for and against NaNoWriMo, so I guess it's time for me to toss in my two cents worth. Not enough, I think, for a whole rant, since those are going for at least a nickel.

I had been a secret writer my whole life. Why secret? I'm not sure, but it was a secret even to me. I kept this secret from myself by never calling myself a writer. I called my self a "scribbler". I didn't write, I just scribbled. I scribbled stories. I scribbled poems. I scribbled in my blog, then my Xanga, then my LJs (yes, I have a number of them).

I scribbled in notebooks and journals and blank books and computers. But I still never wrote. I made up stories for my son, and myths for my religion. But I never wrote.

In 2002 I heard about NaNoWriMo for the first time. I signed up, but didn't do it. I was afraid I'd fail. Afraid that it would damage my ability to try anything else for too long. Heck, I was just plain afraid.

For the rest of the year I regretted not doing it. So last year, I did. I was excited about it. I spent October doing outlining. I did a 30,000 word outline (with world building). Two days before NaNoWriMo, a story about a troll that lives in a theater walked up, grabbed me by the arm and said "Dump that outline. I am the story you must write."

So I did. I stopped scribbling and instead I wrote. I wrote on weekdays and lunches and weekends. I did my 50,000 words. I had a lot of fun writing, finding my story, reading it to my son. My creativity spread. I took up drawing again, and I drew things that Weren't Trash. I discovered that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I changed my definition of "artist".

And I didn't suffer one day of depression the entire month.

Which is how I discovered Touch of Ink's Magical Patented (Pending) Superdiferous Depression Cure. Create something every day. Better than therapy, tattoos, or medication, the act of creation made me whole. Made me feel alive.

And once NaNoWriMo was over, I wanted to find a way to keep that feeling. So I joined Forward Motion. And then I joined the Two Year Novel program.

So, when people rail about NaNoWriMo, I just smile a secret smile. I know what it did for me, and I'm thankful for the experience.