We did it! We did it! We really, really did it!
Today is the first day of National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, in which adult writers have to write 50,000 words in one month to win. Children under 12 can choose any word count goal to participate in the Young Writers Program. The prize? Empowerment.
My 8-year-old son wrote 380 words and I wrote 2025. I am so proud of both of us. It was quite difficult to stifle the negative feedback in our heads, and start writing.
A good part of the day was spent encouraging my son to try. He had been looking forward to this project, but he freaked out today. He was scared of having to write a huge number of words, and of having others read his ideas. When we sat down to write, he started crying that he just couldn’t do it.
I also heard a nasty voice in my head that kept saying “don’t bother, you’ll never finish and your story will suck.” Fortunately, I had declared on a public forum that I would write a homeschooler romance. Somehow, that public declaration and being a supportive mom, got me to change gears and keep on going.
I took my son out for a walk. We talked about his fears. Then I was quiet and let him think. Eventually, he said he had three ideas, but he wasn’t sure which one to choose. So, he picked 2 leaves and a stick to represent his ideas, put them on the ground, and used the eeny meeny miney moe selection method. We returned to the computer and he started dictating. In about half an hour he spewed out 380 words, and he was so incredibly proud of his accomplishment. Later that night, after palming off the kids on my husband, I also sat down and wrote my quota. Once I got past the first few words, it was easy.
I think we can do this.
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