My Night of Writing Dangerously Experience

When I first learned about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo from here on out) it was October of 2003. I was clicking around the Internet, typical behavior for the time, when I clicked The Link. The Link that literally changed my life.

I read about this NaNoWriMo "thing", about how there were no judges, nobody peering over your shoulder to make sure you were getting things done. There was just you, and one really big finish line at the end. They fire the guns at midnight on November 1st, and you run or saunter or scurry or throw up your way through the month, the goal to arrive screaming and crying and relieved at the finish line exactly 30 days later.

How many people have you heard say this: "Oh, I've always wanted to write a book!" Well, I was one of those people until that moment. Suddenly, I had the chance to actually write the book.

Of course I jumped at the chance.

Since 2003 I've participated in NaNoWriMo, but it wasn't until last year at this time that I actually had the opportunity to participate in The Night of Writing Dangerously.

It was early September when I remembered about the event. I had mentioned it to my husband some years before, and he had suggested I plan ahead for the next year, and I took his advice. Except the next year I forgot (oops), and suddenly it was 2010. Anyway, so I remembered, and when I did the first thing I did was run and set up my GiftTool (now StayClassy) account. The second thing I did was ask my husband if he would be willing to watch the kids while I did this amazing thing.

Of course (eventually) he said yes.

And this year he's agreed again.

**fistpump**

I've got about 58 days yet to fundraise at this point, and currently I am stalled out just under $600. I shouldn't discouraged, because I raised that much in 30 days. But I've already worked through most of the people I can ask for money, and so now the real work begins.

I started out with about 87 days to raise money to attend The Night of Writing Dangerously. I'm lucky, in that I work in a large office, and it's easy to ask people to donate $10 for writing programs. I have avoided asking people who I know are tight on money, because I feel really bad asking someone who is trying to scrape together $10 for their supper to give me that money for someone else.

Sometimes you've got to look out for yourself. I know that.

And the great thing is, many people gave more! Maybe I missed an opportunity with a couple people by not asking for more up front, but many people offered much more than I asked for.

Now it's going to get a little tougher. I'm at the end of my "I'm doing some fundraising..." pitch, and moving on towards "what can I sell to make money?" Obviously having a one-person car wash is a little out of the question. And where I work, getting people to donate and then getting a character named after them in return flies about as well as a lead balloon. Nobody seems to want that kind of notoriety. (Go figure!)

But I do work in an office of serious munchers. And the only thing better than munchers is knowing how to make a snack that is utterly munch-able. So I made 22 bags - 11 small, 11 large - of the ultimate munchy snack - Chex Mix. Once it all sells (if it would hurry up and do so), it comes very close to doubling the money invested.

SCORE for fundraising!

I also have the wonderful gift of Squidoo, and as I was fortunate enough to have a very good idea for a lens, I make a not insignificant (but not particularly significant) portion every few months. I've decided that for the rest of the time before The Night of Writing Dangerously, I will switch my profits to be distributed 100% to me, which will in then be distributed 100% to my fundraising.

I worry a bit that I'm not going to meet my $1,000 goal. I'll have to sell an awful lot of Chex Mix (homemade, by the way - with olive oil, so it's healthier) to make it. But giving up won't be in my vocabulary between now and then. I declared (fairly loudly, and a bit publically) that I was going to be the top fundraiser this year, and I will be a little ashamed if I can't live up to at least the top donation from the previous year.

Wish me luck! And if you have any ideas on how to raise money that doesn't involve knitting, I'd really appreciate you sending your ideas my way!

I have a little story to tell, because not everything is always super happy and cheery. I promise this will be the last place I mention it (it's made an appearance on my blog and my work Facebook) - maybe. :|

About a month ago, someone approached me about a coupon book their child was selling for their school. Should they just leave it in a public place? I was hesitant to endorse this plan - after all, you just never know. So I posted a copy of the order form, emailed everyone to let them know it was there, and kept the book in my office for two weeks so it wouldn't be stolen.

Why didn't I take my own advice?

Three weeks ago I made a batch of my family's holiday season snack of choice - Scrabble. It's basically Chex Mix, but homemade and tres yummy. I brought it all in to work (in stages, of course), selling it in hopes of raising money to donate to OLL for the Night of Writing Dangerously that I'll be attending in November.

I'll let everyone reading know right now - I am raising money because (1) I want to and (2) I told myself I was going to be the top fundraiser. Later I learned that the top fundraisers are able to win/earn/receive (I don't know how it works, exactly) a variety of donated prizes at the event - the top of which is a new laptop. Yes, I am motivated to keep thinking of new ways of raising money because boy, a new laptop would be niiice. I think mine is dying, and if it isn't yet, I'm sure it's only got a short while before I'm unable to stand it anymore. But I started and the main reason I'm doing this is because I love National Novel Writing Month, and I would be seriously sad to see it go the way of so many other things these days - dead due to lack of funding.

So back to my story. I brought the Scrabble into work, made a cute little sign explaining I was selling it for charity, what the cost was, and promoting it's healthiness via olive oil as opposed to other yucky oils. And people started buying some - it was great! A couple people dropped the money off at my desk, but most people dropped it into the envelope.

This week I noticed - bags of Scrabble were disappearing, but money was not being put in the envelope.

One of my coworkers was notably more worked up about this than I was. "How can you not be upset that these are people you look at every day, and know that one of them is looking you in the eye, and doing this to you?" Because quite honestly, our office does not get a lot of strange people walking along by themselves. They are generally escorted in and out as a courtesy, or they are known.

I can't worry about that. If I spent my time thinking, "Maybe it was her...or was it him," I would...I don't know what. I don't want to be that person that walks around people's desks looking for half-eaten bags of my snacks and wondering if they paid or not. I don't want to be looking at people with suspicion. I know it's naive to think that maybe it was some client's kid waiting for Mom & Dad to be finished with their meeting, or that someone getting coffee didn't read the sign, or that someone I know maybe just didn't have the money right then but they'll put it there just as soon as they do. Those scenarios aren't likely. But I still would rather believe that, and choose to believe that, rather than having to wonder who is lying to me.

But I am very sad tonight as I think about it. Nearly half the bags are gone, with no funds to donate in their place. I had purchased the groceries for the Scrabble myself, expecting to be able to donate almost twice that amount when all of it was gone.

Instead, I'll end up with just a little bit less than I paid for the ingredients.

It's so sad.

EDIT: So I posted on my work Facebook account, and even posted a little note by my Scrabble. "Please don't steal, this is for charity!" I pleaded. Well, one person donated an extra $10 - they couldn't believe someone would steal. And another person, another $3. I was happy - it was very sweet of these people, whom I don't believe would have purposefully (or accidentally) walked off with my scrabble to make up for someone elses mistake.

And then last week, the pièce de résistance...$45 had been deposited in the collection envelope over the weekend. I was amazed, flabbergasted, and thrilled.

So I guess I can harbor a little hope for humanity after all. :)

Woohoo! My dad and I are sitting at the Lehigh Valley International Airport just waiting for our flight to start boarding. I pulled out my laptop to start writing, but of course I'm now distracted with the Internet. I figure if they have it here, they're absolutely going to have it in Chicago where we have a 1.5 hour wait between flights.

Of course, I'm so far behind in my wordcount that I really need to be blasting out 2,000 words every time the plane touches the ground. ;)

Whether it was the city, the people I was with, or the event itself, I didn't realize it's momentous nature at first. I mean, sure - the Night of Writing Dangerously was dangerously amazing. That I knew. But when I got back home, and I was sitting in my favorite chair and ready to eat a couple slices of pizza left over from before I flew out (only 5 days, no worries), I realized that the pizza, the chair, and the show I was about to watch was reality, and I didn't want it to slap me in the face quite yet.

While writing a thank-you note to the staff at The Office of Letters and Light, two very important things clarified in my mind. I won't share them - what they are doesn't matter to anyone but me, anyway. But the fact that this one event could change my life was what the entire thing - National Novel Writing Month (and The Young Writer's Program, and Script Frenzy) - is all about.

Chris Baty said during his speech at the Night of Writing Dangerously, "If there is a reasonably un-horrible book in me...what else might be in there?" And that's what NaNoWriMo is.

Hope.

Challenged Expectations.

Revelations.

I know not everyone gets that. For some, this is a great way to spend some time. A challenge that needs to be conquered. And once it's over, it's over. There's not a breathless, "Oh, my God," moment for everyone.

But for those of us who do have that, National Novel Writing Month is priceless. The Night of Writing Dangerously 2010 was priceless.

Beyond amazing.