Day 5: NaNoWriMo {Go Analog}

Maybe 5 days of NaNoWriMo story talk has you wanting to put words on a page. Maybe that blank page seems very blank. Stephen King (author of 200 short stories, 54 novels, and 6 nonfiction books) feels the same way:

The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only better.

There’s something about opening a Word document that feels very official. To get started I’ll often go analog, especially with blogging. Do I have anything to say? I’m not sure. So I’ll leave the computer be and open a journal instead. I’ll write stuff down; I’ll cross stuff out. Sometimes I’ll never use any of it, as with this page.

Writing stuff down and not using it is not writing lost. Writing lost is what you never put down on the page. I take journals with me everywhere to capture ideas as they come and to make the most of the 5-minute increments that build my days. Some I publish, some I don’t, but all get me through that first doubt of filling the blank page.

Would you like some journals to carry? Cool, because my friend Kristin Marks of Emmy Cate Designs makes them custom with your choice of words, phrases, and images.

I’m giving away 3 for one lucky winner – that’s one for your purse (to write when you’re standing line), one for your catch-all kitchen drawer (to write when you’re waiting for coffee to boil), and one for your night-stand (to write before bed). Or maybe you’re going to give these to three writers in your life. Choose your own adventure, but you need to post a comment to enter to win! Giveaway closes by noon on Friday, November 10.