Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy. Busy. Busy. Now that's got to be the understatement of the month. I have no idea where November disappeared to. One thing I do know is that it has been a busy month with lots of things happening and even more getting done. At the beginning of the month I set off to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge and write 50,000 words in 30 days. Well I am pleased to say that I managed to reach this amount today. Just. I slacked off a little bit halfway through but managed to pick up the pace near the end of last week. While the story still has a little bit go before it's actually finished I plan to complete the rough draft by next week. It'll be a struggle but I'm willing to put in the effort.

This month has left me running around a lot. I'm going back to Australia next week for a long overdue holiday. I'm so excited. I haven't been back for two and a half years. Wow. I can't believe it. It feels like only a month ago that the plane touched down in Warsaw. My intended holiday turned into an indefinite stay. But it's been enjoyable and a huge learning experience. I'm not going alone. My partner is coming, and his younger cousin. It's going to be exciting for them both to discover a new country.

We've had to get passports sorted, visas, tickets and insurance. I have to say that organising the visa was easier than I imagined. It took ten minutes to complete the application on-line and seven hours later we had an emailed visa approval. Simple and free of any hassles.

Now that's all organised I've still got presents to purchase and last minute things to get done before we live. Even though we are only travelling for three weeks I am completely stressing out. Technically I am going home. Australia is my home. It'll always be my home. But I'm scared. I can't predict how I am going to react. It's bizarre but a part of me is a little bit afraid. While there are no expectations, there are definitely many things on the 'to do' and 'to see' list while we are over there.

NaNoWriMo, Up for the Challenge?

National Novel Writing Month comes every November where over a hundred thousand people participate in the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The prize being the satisfaction of completing and achieving such a huge goal and word count. For those who write, this is an impressive feat, for those who don't may not appreciate the challenge so much. Nevertheless, writing 50,000 words in thirty days isn't the easiest of tasks. Of course this doesn't mean that it has to be a perfect final piece. It's free writing. A draft. Messy is OK.

Last year I took on the challenge but didn't sign up. I completed it and was pleased with the effort. This year I've signed up and hopefully will once again manage to write 50,000 words or more this month. It's day two and the word count is rising, slowly, but it's rising. Second day and I'm over the 3000 word mark.

Check out www.nanowrimo.org for more information.