The NaNoWriMo Dare Squad: Meet The Squad!

It is time, Cyberspace.

Today is Halloween.

For normal people, this is the day of candy. The day of admiring the mutilated flesh of once joyful pumpkins rotting and molding out on our front stoops. Of freely giving away our carefully stashed candy to tiny little peasants who come up to our doors like chocolate-obsessed lunatics dressed in bizarre clothing.

But today, as you begin to stuff your chipmunk face full of all the chocolate and candy and popcorn balls (BLECH) that you refuse to give away to the three hundred Captain America’s walking down your leaf-strewn street, you might find your slightly warped brain meats preoccupied by something far less appetizing than how many marshmallows you can fit into your cheeks without choking.

Something far more frightening.

Something disastrous.

. . .

Your impending doom.

Or, as I like to call it, NaNoWriMo.

That’s right, folks. NaNoWriMo is tomorrow.

TOMORROW.

All of that long, tiring, non-existent preparation we’ve undergone in the last month has built up to this very moment. For when the porch lights flicker off and the stampeding tread of child-like feet has disappeared off the pavement — when the world goes quiet and the night turns dead — us writers shall retire into our fluffy pajama’s, power on our busted old laptops, flip open our slightly crinkled and probably-at-one-point-sat-upon notebooks, and. . .wait.

And wait. . .

And wait. . .

And wait. . .

We twiddle our thumbs. We stare at the clock. We do weird finger stretches and self-inflicted thumb-wrestling matches in the hopes that perhaps it will miraculously boost our word count once the clock finally — FINALLY — strikes twelve.

And suddenly, when our novel-inspired playlist loops back around for the third time that night and we’re about to doze off into the graceful clutches of slumber. . .midnight comes.

Ah yes. Midnight. For some Wrimo’s, it’s not natural to stay up until the dead of night in order to write three sentences and then promptly fall asleep like the logs that we are. For some, it is much easier to get a good night’s sleep and hit the ground running on November first, their brain freshly rested and ready to pound out 50,000 words in 30 days.

But for me, staying up on November’s-Eve is tradition.

I love the thrill coursing through my veins in those final moments spent in nervous anticipation.

I love the subtle nip of the very beginnings of November air.

I love the eerie howls penetrating through my window panes as the werewolves take their final flight before morning.

I love the mutilated screams as human flesh is devoured by aforementioned werewolves.

I love wiggling my toes beneath the blankets because it makes me feel cute and innocent.

I just love it all.

November is one of my absolute favorite months of the year, and this is majorly because of the beautiful thing that is NaNoWriMo. The sense of community and closeness in an occupation that is usually so lonely and distanced from all other forms of humanity is overwhelming. And this year, through the spontaneous creation known as The NaNoWriMo Dare Squad, I’m hoping to better connect with you — my fellow NaNoers (that is obviously a word, what are you talking about) and bloggers.

And what better way to do that than by making this Dare Squad official?

See, I’ve decided to take a bit of a blogging hiatus in November. In an effort to try and escape the throes of death that await me if I fail in completing my goal of finishing the second draft of everlost, I have decided that writing a blog post every week could quite possibly be the worst idea that I have ever had.

However, I still want to keep track of how you’re all doing with your projects over the course of November. I want to hear about your woes, your victories, your achievements, your complications. I want to see the fear coursing through your veins when you realize that you might actually have to roll the dice and meet your untimely demise want to be there for you whenever you need a pep-talk, or just a simple word of encouragement.

Though writing is most definitely a solitary act, NaNoWriMo was never meant to be done alone. It is won as a team, by lifting each other up and cheering each other on.

So instead of doing a weekly post that has absolutely nothing to do with the sheer torment we’re all going through during the month of November, I’m going to be posting a weekly Sign-In — a little place where the Squad can come together and talk about how we’re doing, go over our story’s sufferings and accomplishments, and discuss ways to defeat the dastardly writer’s block.

because there is going to be a lot of writer’s block.

And if you don’t happen to be part of the Squad, but you’d still like to pop in and offer up a pep-talk or your secret stash of cookies, then you are absolutely welcome to come on in and sob salty ooze talk stories with us!

Because November is the month of story creation, and whether you’re participating in NaNoWriMo or not, stories are a constant part of every writer’s life.

So let’s get this ball rolling, shall we? November is fast approaching, and that can only mean one thing. . .

The Dare Squad must assemble.

And so, without further ado, allow me to introduce each and every one of you to–

– The 2017 NaNoWriMo Dare Squad –

 

I feel like we need superhero costumes, or something. One of you get on that.

 

As you can see, there are 11 of us.

11 Members.

11 Dares.

11 Ways to die.

#ournewslogan

Another thing you might have noticed is that, while I was typing everything up onto the graph, I tried to keep all of your words as true and exact to what you posted as I possibly could. This is because it is my firm belief that a writer’s words are more than just symbols on a page. When a writer writes, their words become a part of them, a unique piece to the puzzle that is their existence, and absolutely no one should try and take that away from them.

So if there is anything on the board that you feel isn’t quite right, please feel free to let me know, and I will make sure to change it as soon as I possibly can.

And if you just so happen to be a little late to the party and haven’t submitted your Dare Squad form yet, please do not be afraid to get in touch with me and sign up! The beautiful thing about that lovely graph up there is that it can be easily changed.

So if you’re interested in signing up, or just want to learn more about the Dare Squad in general, I would recommend checking out this smudge right here, or messaging me personally over in the Suggestion Desk!

(NOTE: The official end-date for sign up is November 1st [because I’d like to focus more on my writing than editing fiddly graphs] but if you fling some cookies in my general direction, I can definitely make some exceptions for late Squad members! [or you could just give me cookies because you’re a nice person. whatever floats your boat, I suppose.])

November begins in less than 24 hours, my friends. In less than 24 hours, we shall all be hastily typing away on our bruised keyboards, or angrily scratching deep trenches into the possibly bloodied pages of our shredded notebooks.

November is nearly upon us, Cyberspace, and it is time.

It is time to assemble.

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talk to me, peasants!

What’s up, my fellow Squadians? (is this a word? I think this is a word.) November is nearly here, and it is finally time to assemble and meet our fellow Squad members! And what better way to get the party started than by talking about our absolute favorite NaNoWriMo traditions? 

Are there any special routines you go through to get your mind and fingers ready for the NaNoWriMo season? Do you love staying up until the stroke of midnight to get the first words of your novel penned down before crashing into your pillows like the sleep-deprived soul that you are, or do you prefer to start with a fresh mind and page on the morning of November first? Is your tradition seeing how many pounds of candy you can swallow whole whilst sobbing dramatically into a soiled hanky? Or do you prefer snacking on your favorite cannibalistic fruit chew?

(oh, phooey. it’s Halloween. allow me to be creepy for once in my life, sir. [because I’m not creepy every other day of the year. obviously.])

Whatever your NaNo tradition happens to be, let us talk about ALL OF THE THINGS down in the comments below! And don’t forget to give a shoutout to all your fellow teammates, as well! (unless you are a shy bean who would rather participate in the Dare Squad without the intimidation of trying to talk to other people. [this is perfectly understandable, and you will still get all of the cookies!!]) After all, we’re all in this together, aren’t we?

We are all doomed.

And to those of you not participating in the Dare Squad, what are some of YOUR favorite things about November? Will you be working on any stories throughout the month, or are you taking the month off to focus on your studies? (because let’s face it. school is actually a very wise [AND TRAUMATIC] responsibility to have, and you deserve all of the cookies for that, sir! *flings cookies at your face*) Are you going to enjoy sitting back in your giant swivel chair and laughing hysterically as you watch all of us idiotic NaNoers scramble to reach our goals by the 30th, or are you going to be rooting us on like the kind soul that you aren’t? Whatever it is you’re doing this next month, let us talk about ALL OF IT down in the comments below!

As always, until next time. . .

*flings cookies in the air and disappears*