I Have a Companion on My 'Write a Novel in a Month' Journey

 

When I did a yearly declaration of taking on the NaNoWrimo challenge where I write 50k words of a novel in the month of November, I forgot to mention the rather significant fact that my son, Everett, will be taking on the challenge for the third straight year as well.

Considering one of my proudest dad moments was when Everett asked three years ago if he could take on the 'Write a Novel in a Month' challenge, it is kind of odd that it completely slipped my mind to mention that I have a rather adorable companion and partner on this November creative writing journey.

The big difference for Everett compared to me is that I need to write 50k while with Everett's young writer's program, he can choose his own word count to hit for the month. He has taken on the rather ambitious for a not-quite-a-10-year-old with 10k words for the month.

There are also different badges you can earn on top of winning the challenge of succeeding your necessary word count. One of the big badges is writing every day. and right now, both Everett and I have nailed that one. Everett seems pretty committed in trying to get every badge available to him (just like his dad).

I must confess that while I try to push him every day and encourage him to write with me that having someone else in the house taking on this challenge is an inspiration and motivation for me too. It is nice having both of us here supporting and encouraging each other.

At this point, we are both on pace exceeding our goal. I still have the hope of hitting 100k, but will be happy if I beat my record of last year of 60k, and for the first time, earn all the available badges. Everett is on pace of getting 50% of his goal done before next weekend, which means he could if he pushed himself nail 20k, but I think he will easily get about 15k.

The NaNoWrimo HQ had declared there can not be any in-person meetings and everything must be online. There are set dates for what we call virtual Write-Ins where we write together and do what are called word sprints where you try to write the most words within a given time. The word sprints also a big thing outside of those Write-In times, and Everett who is very competitive, is becoming addicted to them. I think, the community is a big reason for why he is doing so well, and is on pace for writing an incredible amount of words this month.

I am proud of him for taking on this challenge again. I am just happy he is pushing himself, and will be happy with whatever his word count ends up being.

What about you? Are you doing NaNoWrimo and how is it going?