Hi all,
This week is all about creating a mission statement with your family for NaNoWriMo. Please find the How-to part of this lesson below.
After you create your mission statement, please post how it went and some or all of the details, if you wish.
Have fun with this all-important process!
Irene Roth
To be most successful in completing your manuscript in November, you will have to have your family on board for the ride. In other words, they will have to agree to your being absent sometimes to write and complete your word count every day.
This may mean that they will have to agree to do some of the chores every day. They may even have to pick up groceries if they are needed or pick up dry cleaning. Further, they may have to agree to do small, yet time consuming tasks such as cleaning out the litter or taking the dog for a walk.
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen writers make is not to communicate with their family members and not tell them that they will have to write consistently every day for a month. If you don’t tell your family members what you are doing, they will start resenting you going straight to your office and writing for 2 hours after dinner or they will wonder why you are waking up earlier to do some writing.
The best way to be successful during NaNoWriMo is to tell your family that you will be writing a book in a month and that you would appreciate their help. Most family members will be more than happy to help and some may even be inspired by what you are doing.
For instance, if you have children, this could show them how to be resilient and consistent with their goals and how hard work can yield success. It can teach them some very valuable lessons.
However, if you don’t have kids at home and your husband is not a writer or reader, you will have to get ready for this event because they will resent it when you disappear to write soon. And it won’t be long that the stress will be so great that you will quit writing.
There is nothing worse than having to fight for every minute or hour that you want to write. Participating in NaNoWriMo is hard enough. You don’t need additional stress and pressures put on you.
If you don’t get cooperation at home, I suggest that you find a public place to go to, like a library, to write for a few hours. Once your family sees that you are serious about writing, they will stop being as upset about it because they will realize that you will be habitually writing.
So, it is up to us writers to set up the ground rules in our family. Most families don’t understand the life of a writer. So, you will have to teach them that writers tend to disappear for part of the day so that they can write.
If you work full time or part time outside of the home, it is especially important that you set some ground rules with your family. You will have to prepare a mission statement where all the people in the home agree to the rules. This can take some give and take and negotiation. So, expect that.
If your family members are willing to work with you to prepare the mission statement, they will also be willing to let your writing become a part of their life too. Ideally, your spouse and family members will do something else too that will make their time valuable other than watching television. So, all of us could win from this event and grow. This is when NaNoWriMo really is something positive both for us and our family.
This week is all about creating a mission statement with your family for NaNoWriMo. Please find the How-to part of this lesson below.
After you create your mission statement, please post how it went and some or all of the details, if you wish.
Have fun with this all-important process!
Irene Roth
Create a Family Mission Statement
To be most successful in completing your manuscript in November, you will have to have your family on board for the ride. In other words, they will have to agree to your being absent sometimes to write and complete your word count every day.
This may mean that they will have to agree to do some of the chores every day. They may even have to pick up groceries if they are needed or pick up dry cleaning. Further, they may have to agree to do small, yet time consuming tasks such as cleaning out the litter or taking the dog for a walk.
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen writers make is not to communicate with their family members and not tell them that they will have to write consistently every day for a month. If you don’t tell your family members what you are doing, they will start resenting you going straight to your office and writing for 2 hours after dinner or they will wonder why you are waking up earlier to do some writing.
The best way to be successful during NaNoWriMo is to tell your family that you will be writing a book in a month and that you would appreciate their help. Most family members will be more than happy to help and some may even be inspired by what you are doing.
For instance, if you have children, this could show them how to be resilient and consistent with their goals and how hard work can yield success. It can teach them some very valuable lessons.
However, if you don’t have kids at home and your husband is not a writer or reader, you will have to get ready for this event because they will resent it when you disappear to write soon. And it won’t be long that the stress will be so great that you will quit writing.
There is nothing worse than having to fight for every minute or hour that you want to write. Participating in NaNoWriMo is hard enough. You don’t need additional stress and pressures put on you.
If you don’t get cooperation at home, I suggest that you find a public place to go to, like a library, to write for a few hours. Once your family sees that you are serious about writing, they will stop being as upset about it because they will realize that you will be habitually writing.
So, it is up to us writers to set up the ground rules in our family. Most families don’t understand the life of a writer. So, you will have to teach them that writers tend to disappear for part of the day so that they can write.
If you work full time or part time outside of the home, it is especially important that you set some ground rules with your family. You will have to prepare a mission statement where all the people in the home agree to the rules. This can take some give and take and negotiation. So, expect that.
If your family members are willing to work with you to prepare the mission statement, they will also be willing to let your writing become a part of their life too. Ideally, your spouse and family members will do something else too that will make their time valuable other than watching television. So, all of us could win from this event and grow. This is when NaNoWriMo really is something positive both for us and our family.
Upvote
0