Yesterday was my 50th birthday. Fifty years of life --I feel so lucky.
The day was quite mundane really. Nevertheless, I thought it was the best day ever because I am still alive.
The notebooks you see on the left hold a record of many of my life's events. I have been writing about my little and big experiences since I was seven years old. These are not award winning stories nor are they very exciting --proof that my life has been very ordinary. They do however tell my story as I experienced it.
These stories have never been read by me before. I wrote them and left them as they fell onto the page. So, I never corrected any mistakes. Now that I am reading these stories, I cringe often at my spelling atrocities and at other writing errors. Now, I think perhaps I should have done some proofreading, but then again writing the perfect story was not the purpose.
I did not write about every single event, obviously, but, what I did write offers me guidance as I put together the time-line of my life.
As I read my stories, I notice that my writing serves the same purpose that it always has. When I have a problem with someone that I am trying to work through or some event in my life is emotionally stressful, I write. It is my therapy.
For the entire month of November, I decided to commit myself to a writing event called NaNoWriMo. This event inspires people to write a novel. Now, this novel can be anything the writer wants to write about. The best part is that it doesn't have to be good. It can be an untidy mess of words sprinkled on numerous pages failing completely to tell a coherent story. The purpose is to get people writing. Within that writing, a story will be created that maybe, just maybe, can be turned into a wonderful story --perhaps even a published novel-- someday.
My NaNoWriMo story has been my own story grown from the pages of those three notebooks. Once I am gone, my stories will be gone with me, so participating in this event has forced me to bring forth my untold experiences locked inside my brain. It also has given me the opportunity to create a better retelling of some of those stories told in my notebooks. I am preserving my life that will otherwise perish. My hope is my children will get to know me a little better through this effort.
This 50,000 or more word creation is going to be for my children and for my children only.
My present word count is . . . 29,451.
I think everyone should do this for their family. And, don't wait. It could one day be too late.
December 4, 2014 Novel Update --I did it! National Novel Writing Month
50,418 words
You won!
These stories have never been read by me before. I wrote them and left them as they fell onto the page. So, I never corrected any mistakes. Now that I am reading these stories, I cringe often at my spelling atrocities and at other writing errors. Now, I think perhaps I should have done some proofreading, but then again writing the perfect story was not the purpose.
I did not write about every single event, obviously, but, what I did write offers me guidance as I put together the time-line of my life.
As I read my stories, I notice that my writing serves the same purpose that it always has. When I have a problem with someone that I am trying to work through or some event in my life is emotionally stressful, I write. It is my therapy.
For the entire month of November, I decided to commit myself to a writing event called NaNoWriMo. This event inspires people to write a novel. Now, this novel can be anything the writer wants to write about. The best part is that it doesn't have to be good. It can be an untidy mess of words sprinkled on numerous pages failing completely to tell a coherent story. The purpose is to get people writing. Within that writing, a story will be created that maybe, just maybe, can be turned into a wonderful story --perhaps even a published novel-- someday.
My NaNoWriMo story has been my own story grown from the pages of those three notebooks. Once I am gone, my stories will be gone with me, so participating in this event has forced me to bring forth my untold experiences locked inside my brain. It also has given me the opportunity to create a better retelling of some of those stories told in my notebooks. I am preserving my life that will otherwise perish. My hope is my children will get to know me a little better through this effort.
This 50,000 or more word creation is going to be for my children and for my children only.
My present word count is . . . 29,451.
I think everyone should do this for their family. And, don't wait. It could one day be too late.
December 4, 2014 Novel Update --I did it! National Novel Writing Month
50,418 words
You won!
