National Be a Masochist Month

That's what November is going to be: National Be a Masochist Month. NaBeMasMo.

I've participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the last five years -- in five days, my sixth year will begin. I hit 50,000 words for the first time in 2006 and did it again in 2007. These have been grand victories for me, and yet neither of those novels are finished. I have a terrible time finding motivation beyond November 30th or even after I cross that 50k line (last year, I finished three days early and just couldn't write anymore). This year, I've decided that I'm going to write until I finish the story. It will be at least 50k words, but if it has to be 60k before I finish, then goddamn it all, I'm going to finish before December.

So I guess with that goal in mind this year, it might be (incredibly) stupid of me to even consider another NaNo-inspired event, especially one that also takes place in November. But NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) is the first of the spin-off NaNos to have really captured my attention. It doesn't necessary have a specific month, but November is its month of prize-giving. They're silly things, trinkets and artworks donated by members, but I like useless things and who doesn't like free stuff? Besides, I love blogging and have always struggled with consistent updates on not-necessarily-personal subjects so it would be a great exercise.

I think that maybe I like writing too much. Especially if I'm supposed to be primarily a visual artist.

I keep several blogs. My artblog is hosted on Livejournal here: Bad Dog, No Biscuit. Being an artblog, it isn't exactly writing intensive -- most of it is mirrored links and thumbnails from my deviantART account, but I also most weekly sketch posts with commentary and offer way too in-depth reports of events I attend, including conventions and concerts, so a fair amount of writing goes into that. In the same journal, but under friend-based security measures, I also post semi-regularly about my life. I know I'm not the only person that thinks, "Man, I need to write about this," whenever something bad happens in my life. I can't decide if this is a good or bad thing.

I also keep an anime opinion blog on Blogger named Opinion Prone. I try to update it at least once a week, though honestly, I'd love to try for twice a week. It's just that those posts take much longer for me to write because there are more things for me to cite, for me to read before I write my post, etc. I also use Opinion Prone to post my reviews -- typically very long and thorough -- on series, movies, and music. It's a tiring venture, but I'm happy with it for the most part. I enjoy writing it, anyway.

I have another Blogger blog that doesn't really have a name, but is currently titled What Are You Talking About? This blog went on indefinite hiatus when I started Opinion Prone, but I've been toying with the idea of writing in it again though because I've been giving thought to various topics that don't really belong anywhere else. What a time to be getting ideas again, eh?

Lastly, I'm the primary blogger at the blog for my college's student-run writing club. Thankfully, I suppose, school lets out halfway through November (art school, quarter system), and theoretically won't be posting as much during the latter half of the month. I say theoretically because I like writing about grammar even though no one listens and may be inclined to make updates even during the holiday.

I plan to update Bad Dog and Opinion Prone as usual during the month of November, on top of doing both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. Oh, did I mention yet that I also play at and administrate a substantial-sized, writing-based roleplaying community? Luckily, I have three fantastic colleagues to aid me in general administration, but I'm mostly alone in handling all the technical aspects of the game. And I play two characters who ideally require at least five posts each a week.

Like I said, I write too much.

In case you haven't guessed, this blog, NaBeMasMo, will be the blog I plan on updating daily during the month of November for NaBloPoMo. It will chronicle my life as I hack my way through the month trying to write a novel, trying to maintain the rest of my (writing) life, trying to make it through classes and finals with straight A's, and trying to do whatever else I may or may not decide to add to my plate between now and November first. I don't plan on "trying" to update this blog every day. I will update this blog every day. (I wonder if keeping a backlog of pre-written posts that will automatically update is cheating? It's a moot point anyway, the content of this blog calls for truthful, daily updates. No wriggling my way out of this one, I guess.)

Oh, masochism. It's the only explanation, isn't it?

See you in November.