It’s that time of year again. I’ve put my name down and expect to spectacularly fail once more in my bid to write a 50,000 word novel during November.
For those who have no clue of what I write, NaNoWriMo is “National Novel Writing Month”, and finds its home on the internet at www.nanowrimo.org. The project started in 1999, and involved 21 authors. Last year saw over 100,000 authors attempt the madness.
I planned to take part a couple of years ago for the first time, but work schedules got in the way and destroyed any home I had of completing the mission - even though at one point I sat on the beach in Tunisia with a Palm 3 and a foldout keyboard, writing like a lunatic.
This year I have perhaps the most suitable situation in some years - while I may not have a great deal of free time, the dependencies of each day of the week are known to me - therefore I can find time to crank out the 1500 words or so each day that will be required.
Make no mistake - the book I write during November will be crap. Utter garbage. But if I succeed, I will be able to tell people that I wrote a book. Advice for taking part in NaNoWriMo states that participants should aim above all else for quantity - quality should be of no concern. This may be my saving grace.
A good deal of my writing will happen on the train. On a couple of days each week I commute into and out of London - a 2 hour each-way journey I have written about in the past with quite some venom.
My only option for a useable commuting laptop is a tiny EEE PC 701. There is one problem with it though, which I have just found a potential solution for - the little EEE PC only lasts 2 hours on a battery charge (if you are lucky). Not long enough to survive being written on during the train journey. Casting an eye on Amazon reveals a newer model - the 1000H, which not only has a bigger keyboard, but also lasts 4.5 hours of normal use - more than enough to survive typing on a train, and the bigger keyboard will make things easier and faster.
Another benefit of a second usable laptop in our household will be the opportunity to reside in the same room as each other more easily when spending time online. Once the kids go to bed on an evening we often see little of each other if I am working on freelance work, or she is checking out Ravelry (she’s is to knitting as I am to the web). The big desktop machine is great, fast, and wonderful, but using it requires sitting in the study - typically on your own.
Reading the NaNoWriMo forum reveals a kick-off party happening in central London in a couple of weeks time. I might actually make it this time - it will be interesting to meet some of the other people taking part. I have absolutely no idea what kind of person would sign up for this idiocy other than myself.