{"id":915,"date":"2020-10-29T07:55:29","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T11:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/?p=915"},"modified":"2020-10-30T20:01:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T00:01:27","slug":"jacks-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/jacks-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack’s Back!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello! The title of this blog is two-fold in meaning. Yes, I’m back and ready to write again, but this is also going to be the title of my NaNoWriMo for 2020!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided, just today, that it was time to jump back into the insanity, and what better year than this? For those who are not aware, NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month, was an idea birthed by Chris Baty to write a 50,000 word novel, from start to finish, in the month of November. That is a book roughly the size of The Great Gatsby, to give you an idea. It’s a crazy idea, and yet, thousands of people take on the challenge every year, and even more amazingly, many hit the goal. I have completed the goal myself three times, the last one being 2008, so it is time once again to stretch my writing muscles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to use this blog to keep track of my progress, the resources I’m using, research, etc, while I keep the actual writing on my NaNoWriMo writer’s page: https:\/\/nanowrimo.org\/participants\/jackson-tejada<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having decided to jump in with only three days of prep is going to make this extra challenging, but where’s the fun if there is no challenge? And, to make it official, below is the novelist agreement, courtesy of Chris Baty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE MONTH-LONG NOVELIST AGREEMENT AND STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING<\/strong>
I hereby pledge my intent to write a 50,000-word novel in one month’s time. By invoking an absurd, month-long deadline on such an enormous undertaking, I understand that notions of “craft,” “brilliance,” and competency are to be chucked right out the window, where they will remain, ignored, until they are retrieved for the editing process. I understand that I am a talented person, capable of heroic acts of creativity, and I will give myself enough time over the course of the next month to allow my innate gifts to come to the surface, unmolested by self-doubt, self-criticism, and other acts of self-bullying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the month ahead, I realize I will produce clunky dialogue, cliched characters, and deeply flawed plots. I agree that all of these things will be left in my rough draft, to be corrected and\/or excised at a later point. I understand my right to withhold my manuscript from all readers until I deem it completed. I also acknowledge my right as author to substantially inflate both the quality of the rough draft and the rigors of the writing process should such inflation prove useful in garnering me respect and attention, or freedom from participation in onerous household chores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I acknowledge that the month-long, 50,000-word deadline I set for myself is absolute and unchangeable, and that any failure to meet the deadline, or any effort on my part to move the deadline once the adventure has begun, will invite well-deserved mockery from friends and family. I also acknowledge that, upon successful completion of the stated noveling objective, I am entitled to a period of gleeful celebration and revelry, the duration and intensity of which may preclude me from participation fully in workplace activities for days, if not weeks, afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signed<\/strong>: Jackson Tejada
Date<\/strong>:10\/29\/2020
Novel Start Date:<\/strong> 11\/1\/2020
Novel Deadline: <\/strong>11\/30\/2020
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