It's Nano time again

News, news, news!

It's that time of year again. 

No, not Christmas. 

It's November, which means it's National Novel Writing Month. Each year people from all over the world take part in a writing sprint, to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

I took part last year, to let off some creative steam, and I wrote the 50,000 words and won. What I wrote last year was a mish-mash of rubbish that I don't intend to publish at all. But I still did it, and it was a lot of fun.

I wasn't going to enter this year, because I have so many writing related projects on the go right now, that I wouldn't have time to do a 50,000 word sprint of crappy gobbledygook. 

But I entered anyway. I decided to use the nano sprint to finish my current projects. We are on day 10 of the nano now, I'm 16,362 words in, and one project is finished and is now in the editing stages.

Last years nano was a rushed, frantic frenzy of activity, where we were all panicking to get each daily word count finished. This year though, the whole event feels like a gentle relaxed walk. It's not as much fun as last year, as I am definitely putting more thought and effort into what I write this time around, as this years various projects will be published when written, edited, re-written and edited again once the nano has finished.

Due to my various illnesses and problems over the last year, which I won't go into, as you already know all about them, my writing has suffered a lot. I have neglected it shamefully. But I'm hopefully back on track with the writing now, and will have all present projects finished by the end of November. 

Other news

I think winter is here. I mean, damn! It's cold! I've been hearing reports of snow in certain areas where my online friends live, but we haven't had any here in Manchester yet. It's certainly cold enough though. I hope, if it does snow, that it does it properly this year. I hate, hate, hate that slushy stuff that pretends to be snow for only seconds and then... just isn't snow any more.  

Other other news

I've finally found a creative writing group in my area. I accidentally ran across it on Facebook, and decided to attend one of their meetings. It was interesting, and I will try to attend regularly. Online groups are great, but there is no substitute for the real thing. 

The funny part is that this local group had been going for 50 years, but I've never heard of them before. I'm surprised it isn't more well known, or easier to find, both online and off. To correct this, I am going to tell you about it. It's called the Monday Night Group, and is based in the City Centre in Manchester. 

If you're in manchester and fancy joining a creative writing group, then pop along. Here is their website for you:

The Monday Night Group 

More other news

Not sure if any of you were aware, but the Million Mask March was on 5th November. All the groups, anonymous, occupy etc got together to organise, all over the world, peaceful demonstrations. I was unable to attend, but followed their progress online, and I just wanted to give them a big shout out. You guys were awesome!! The turnout was great in every city that was involved. The press should be ashamed of themselves for not covering it properly. 

If you are wondering what the Million Mask March was all about, you can find videos and news articles all over the internet. Just google 'million mask march.'

Well, that's it for now. See you next time.

Please take part in a 3-minute silence today in remembrance of all who lost their lives in the line of duty. We shall never forget!

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