nanowrimo_lj | NaNoWriMo "Will/Will Not"

I figured I might post this, as it's something that's been running through my mind as the time inches toward midnight on Sunday. Feel free to add your own, as I think it might be an amusing topic.

I WILL... do my best to reach 50,000 words.
I WILL NOT... under any circumstances, destroy something if I fail to reach my goal. It's a stupid, infantile thing to do... and besides, the most likely thing is the computer monitor. They're expensive. And broken glass hurts.

I WILL... focus an appropriate amount of time on my novel.
I WILL NOT... be distracted by movies, television shows, anime, books, video games, the cats, the dogs, the guinea pigs, the Madagascaran hissing cochroaches, the rapidly approaching funnel cloud, the really interesting pattern on the kitchen tile, the snow, the telemarketer offering me free cable with a free toaster and ginsu knife, my pursuit of the ultimate hoagie, or pursuit of an easy degree in underwater basket weaving.

I WILL... be sure not to go overboard. Real life must still take some precidence.
I WILL NOT... load up on caffiene or, even worse, illegal stimulants, then proceed to skip school, work, social engagements, eating and sleep to produce my book. Rushing through things won't produce good work. And, uh, it would be bad for me, too.

I WILL... trust the plot I've concoted.
I WILL NOT... spend countless hours obsessing over how much the plot sucks, how much I suck as a writer, and the general sucky suckness of it all. Writing is all about scheduling, so I will set strick self pity wallowing hours and abide by them.

I WILL... have faith in my characters.
I WILL NOT... try to "shake things up" by giving my MC a new archenemy/terminal disease/fatal flaw/third arm/second head/spontaneous sex change. Unless my book is geared in those sorts of directions, of course.

I WILL... let the novel flow.
I WILL NOT... second guess myself. In spite of what I may think, this is not National Novel Second Guessing to the Point of Paralysis and Deciding I'm Better Suited to Weaving Wicket Baskets in the Swiss Alps Month.

I WILL... try to keep to a certain word count per day.
I WILL NOT... do complex math to figure out if I can eke out a small amount of words so I can squeeze in a marathon viewing of both seasons of The Office. Now, I may do this anything, but I'm just making sure I avoid the math. There's a reason I'm a writer.

I WILL... remain confident.
I WILL NOT... psyche myself out, even though the last novel I saw posted on the community was way better than mine. And the one I saw yesterday had way better characters. And someone on the forums had a really terrific idea that blows mine away. And William Shakespeare writes way better drama than me. And my cat could probably make a better novel by running across the keyboard chasing catnip. Negativity is the enemy!

I WILL... try to help my fellow NaNoWriMo participants if they need it.
I WILL NOT... suggest that the best solution to one person's historical romance would be an invasion of Greys from Tau Sigma, who are then defeated through the use of ancient magic.

I WILL... do the best job I possibly can.
I WILL NOT... retype my favorite articles from the newspaper just so I can say I'm a winner. Plagurism benefits no one(unless you're a famous historian).

I WILL... realize this is a pretty serious undertaking.
I WILL NOT... say I can do it because any idiot can. Almost certainly, at that point, one will be.

I WILL... have fun.
I WILL NOT... freak out and go into a psychotic rage, donning a hockey mask and terrorizing teenagers at a local camp ground just because the damn characters aren't talking. When the characters don't talk, you're supposed to take a baseball bat to the local museum's prized collection of ancient vases. Hockey masks are reserved for plotting problems.

And finally...

I WILL... be sure I'm doing this for myself.
I WILL NOT... pimp my online journal for the book, which can be found at