So, after talking with Tom this evening, if I can get the days off, I’m going to sign up.

Maybe it’s a birthday challenge appropriate for a milestone birthday.

Maybe it’s something that deep inside I know is just what I need – even if it is excruciating to get there.

OK – but this can’t just happen in isolation, right? Time to start meditating now. Tom suggested 40 days of 40 min of meditation just prior to the retreat in a sort of birthday challenge style, but I feel like I would need to build up to even that.

Begin.

I'm a 2010 NaNoWriMo Winner

If I’m feeling honest I would admit that I had a much more detailed plan this year, and that the result of that was a marginally better story than last year’s story. That makes sense. At least this year when I hit 50K words, I still felt like the story was going somewhere. It’s not done yet, the story, I mean, but there are so many other things to do in the world, I’m not sure if I want to finish it, or just declare victory and move on.

I had a harder time finishing this year than last year, that’s for sure. I had thought that planning a relaxing trip to Hawaii would give me plenty of time to type away, but instead, it was harder to make the decision to write rather than explore, and by week three, I was at a huge deficit. More than anything else, this year taught me that I will probably never write a publishable book. When I think of the time investment that author friends have put into a single work – I get the itch to go snorkeling, surfing, hiking, skiing, just about anything. This exercise certainly gives you some appreciation for the sweat and determination that goes into creating books.

Speaking of books, I’m dying to tell you about a book that hasn’t come out yet, but which I’m really looking forward to. Now that I’m done with the WriMo stuff, it will soon have a post all its own, but in the meantime, check out author, Greg Crouch’s blog about China’s Wings, the pilots who flew over (through, really) the Himalaya during WWII. Tom and I got to hear a preview of some of these stories over dinner one day years ago at Hans’ Basecamp, and given the teasers in the blog, I can’t wait to get my hands on the published result!

During the month of November, I and more than 32,000 other people around the world each completed 50,000 words of fiction. This was just over 19% of the people who signed up. Collectively, according to the NaNoWriMo stats, the word count of everyone who participated and uploaded their writings to the NaNo web site is 2,427,190,537. That’s a lot of words.

It literally took me years to decide to take the NaNo challenge. Tom and I picked up the No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty a long time ago during one of our random book store wanderings. It’s a fun book, and it suggests all kinds of fun indulgences you can expect to treat yourself to during your novel writing month – like a handy stack of snacks next to your writing spot (for energy), getting your spouse to do the dishes, etc. It also promises strange and crazy things like, if you write enough, your characters will start to do unexpected things. I wanted to know how that worked.

Only a few days before November, I was thrutching through a list of possible ideas for a novel, with no particularly appealing prospects, when Tom suggested that I write about a society that doesn’t sleep. He’d started a short story along those lines some time ago, although he had little more than a character and a set up.

I took that idea and over the course of a month developed it into a dreadful, going nowhere story with flat characters who I ultimately didn’t like that much. It’s not that the idea didn’t have potential, (I still think it does) but hey, I haven’t written any fiction in years, if I ever have, and it sucked. That’s OK, and I learned a lot.

I learned that a 50K word novel isn’t really that long, and I shouldn’t have been afraid of running out of story before I hit my goal. I learned that it’s easy for me to make things difficult for my characters. I enjoy it. I learned that I have a nasty habit of qualifying my speech/writing – as in “I learned that I might have a tendency to qualify my speech/writing a little” – which is great for word count, but makes for crappy writing. And I also learned that they weren’t kidding. My characters really did start to do some unexpected things. It works like this: you have this idea for what you think your character is going to do in the next scene, but by the time you get around to writing it, you realize that he/she would actually respond in a completely different way. So, then off you go, shooting down some previously unplanned avenue. It was wonderful.

For the most part, I held off on the snacks, but I did reap the benefits of having my spouse take over many of the household chores… I mean the ones that he usually does anyway. I’m generally terrible at domestic chores. Have I mentioned before that I’m crazy lucky that I married Tom?

So, now that I’m done, I’ve decided to simply close the door on that particular story. No, you can’t read it. I still like the idea, and maybe certain elements will find their way into other NaNo projects in the future, but this particular effort falls into the burn-it-now category. I’m not committing to doing this again next year in any way, but I also wouldn’t say for certain that I would wait a whole year before starting up some other little story. As experiments and projects go, this one was sheer fun.

Part of me is really excited about the challenge, and another part is wondering what the hell the first part is thinking. First of all, it’s not like I don’t have plenty of other projects on the table, or more productive things that I could be doing with my time. Second, 50K is a really big number. Big enough that I can’t really picture it in my head. Third, I’m taking a week off in November to attend a conference, and I’ll be too busy absorbing conference stuff during that week to write much, so I’m already missing a quarter of the time that people have to write. I went to the NaNo forum, and unlike (it seems) many of the people posting there, I don’t feel compelled to write all the time (unless you count journaling, and I don’t). I don’t have a story bursting inside me that needs to be told. In fact, I don’t relate to ANY of the items on the “Are you a serious writer” thread. “Would rather write a scene with two main characters having sex than have it” – are you NUTS?

Wait, what is this about?

National Novel Writing Month is a challenge to devote the time to write 50K words that all point in the same direction. 50K words amounts to a short novel, but apparently, it’s a good goal to shoot for. According to the website, last year, in 2008, they had an all-time high completion rate of 18%, of a total of 119,301 participants from around the world, so it’s difficult, but not impossible. There’s a website where you can enter your word-count, and if you make it to 50K, you win. There aren’t any big prizes on the table, so even though it would be impossibly easy to cheat, there isn’t really any point to it. It’s all about personal satisfaction. And bragging rights, if you’re into that.

That said, I was surprised to find out that the National Best-Seller, Water for Elephants, started out as a NaNoWriMo novel, and the media kit has a decent list of published authors who participate. With nearly 120K participants last year, and growing, at least I have a lot of company in this craziness.

So, why am I doing this?

Well…

Tom and I picked up the No Plot? No Problem! book a few years ago, and there were two things about the event that caught in my head, and have been rubbing around in there since then. The first is: that it’s all about word count, not quality. No one ever has to see what I’ve written (don’t even bother asking to see it – the answer is no), so it’s a great opportunity to try to shake my somewhat overactive personal editor and just type. That sounded like an interesting exercise. You could even take it as personal development, if you wanted to.

The second thing is that these writers talk about having characters come to life and direct the story. That seemed like an interesting experience too. One that might be fun to have.

That’s it. I’m not sure that these two things make up for the vast array of reasons to do something else with my time in November, but I pushed the little button. I might as well enjoy the ride.

Getting things started

The goals change from week to week (failing to set them Sunday night constitutes failing at a goal for the week), but generally fall into a couple of different categories. Fitness is a big one for me. Computer and web projects are a big one for Tom. But, we do a bit of mixing and matching, and there are always more goals and projects than there is time. This seems, so far at least, to be keeping me focused and realistic.

I took the day off on Friday for my birthday (Saturday), and Tom and I left Thursday night after work for a quick backpacking trip. We saw many things, had great adventures, and hiked out Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon we drove into the Bay Area for a friend’s memorial service on Sunday. We talked about goal-setting, and listened to the first bit of Unaccustomed Earth on the drive. That evening, our friends who graciously opened their house to us, treated me/us to a birthday dinner at Plearn, a local Thai restaurant. Really delicious non-European food and the good company of friends is such a treat.

The service on Sunday was beautiful, and touching. The stories celebrating such a remarkable man went on and on. I’m still processing – and just remembering.

Afterwards, we picked up a bed frame at Ikea that we had been eyeing for some time, and then drove to San Jose to meet up with Tom’s family, pick up the car we’d lent, and eat some pizza at a place nearby, Amicis, that serves gluten-free, and vegan options.

Monday morning, we had brunch with yet another friend before making the long drive back to Yosemite, pausing for a bear jam along the way.

I’m back on a frequent-post kick, so expect to hear more detailed stories unfold over the next few days. I’ve had a lot to think about.

There was a writer for Runner’s World, many years ago, who suggested a similar strategy for running workouts. He would force himself to run the first mile – and then if he wasn’t feeling it that day, he would feel content with just calling it a day. But there ended up being many days, when the hardest part was getting started, and convincing himself to take the first few steps led to a productive and rewarding run.

I wonder what the equivalent of a One Sentence Journal is for goal-setting, weight loss/fitness, playing the piano, drawing, or any other thing that I aspire to do.

It’s a lot more writing than I’ve really ever done before, and the great thing about it is that it seems to be getting easier with each day that goes by. Ideas for things to write about come at me faster than I can get them down. (Knock on wood that it continues.) The conservative part of me is saving those posts for use on later days when I can’t think of something else to say, or don’t have time to get something down, but the longer this goes on, the easier it is for me to build up a surplus of ideas.

I guess you can be the judge of whether it’s just getting easier for me because my standards have gone down in terms of the things that I’m writing. (If you think it is, please keep it to yourself. I’m enjoying myself, and don’t want to hear it.)

Anyway, there are 15 days to go still, and I’m starting to try to figure out what I’m going to do once Lent is over. Tom tells me that Yogi Bhajan says it takes 30 days to break a habit and 90 days to set a new one. In other words, 30 days until you’re out of one habit, but 90 days before you’ll miss doing the new thing. If I go for 90 days, will I miss writing when I don’t have the chance? That’s an interesting thought, and not entirely unpleasant. Maybe I’ll develop a writing addition, and then when ScriptFrenzy or NaNoWriMo come around, they will be a fun and interesting stretch instead of the the daunting tasks they seem like now. Fortunately, I still have another few weeks to mull that around before I make a decision.

Guest Service at work

The last Senior Manager Meeting that I went to, SC gave a long presentation about our Guest Service program, GuestPath (not to be confused with the Enviromental Management Program, GreenPath – we’re in Yosemite and we’re path obsessed, can you blame us?). With a couple of surveys, we’ve managed to find a way to quantify guest service, measure how we’re doing, and record consequences. That makes it easier to point to something during the decision-making process and say – if we make that decision our GuestPath scores will increase, and the Managers nod their heads because it high scores are a concrete goal.

Energy Conservation

We’re also trying to do a similar thing with energy conservation in the work place. The GreenTeam is trying to put together a program to measure and track the amount of energy consumed by each general unit, and then somehow incentivize them to conserve. It’s a big project, and I’m sure that we’ll stumble on some of the hurdles, but again the goal is to make energy use measurable and trackable so that we can manage the businesses in a more earth-friendly way.

I’m also excited about this program because I hope that this will mean that the energy-saving solutions will come from the people who really know the best way to make it happen – the people that are working in that environment on a day to day basis.

Happiness and Goal Setting

I’ve started following a blog recently on The Happiness Project. In her search to find happiness, the blog author spent a year reading about and trying various tips and strategies for the pursuit of happiness. A few days ago, I read an article where she also talks about how much easier it is to set goals that are actually measurable. Not ‘get more exercise’ but ‘start walking to work every day’ – that kind of thing. Now, the first person you ask will tell you that having concrete, measurable goals is an important part of successful goal-setting, but that’s part of my point. If you can measure it, you can figure out if you’re doing it well.

Tom knew a professor once, who moved from a high-powered research institution to a teaching college. He knew he was a great researcher, and graduate student mentor, but how to figure out whether he was a great undergraduate teacher or not? He came up with the idea that he would count the number of previously undeclared majors in his required history course who after his course declared themselves as history majors. Then he set a goal for himself to inspire a certain percentage of his class. At the time of the story telling, he’d never once missed his goal. That’s powerful stuff.

The things I’m currently counting

Calories. I stuck pretty strictly to a 1200 cal./day diet for the month of February, but now that I’m happier with my body composition, I’ve let myself eat a little more.

Protein consumption. I guess this is the exception that proves the rule. I’m pretty lax about actually counting grams of protein, and I’m pretty sure I fall consistently below my goal of 60g/day.

Exercise days. I’m actually following Jillian Michael’s online exercise program. It’s a 5-day/week exercise program that is centered around some killer exercise circuits. My rest days are Monday and Friday. Although I’ve missed a few days here and there, keeping a journal of what I’m doing and when I wimp out and skip has really kept me motivated and engaged.

Blog Posts. One per day at least until Easter – and after that who knows.

Seth Godin is my marketing hero. The author of a dozen or so books, including “The Dip” and “All Marketers are Liars”, Seth’s books and blog have been a constant source of insight and perspective since I first started looking into his stuff. One of the concepts I picked up out of the many ideas in his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, was this idea of leaning in or leaning back. It’s not even one of the big ideas in that book, but you never know where you’ll find something you can use.

Lean In

Come prepared and ready to engage. Ask questions. Provide answers. Be opinionated. Wave down people you think you might know and find out how they are. Don’t just ask, but actually find out. That’s leaning in.

Lean Back

Set the stage. Provide the tools. Invite people to come by. Then, just step aside and let the whole thing go where it’s going to go. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is the perfect example of a leader who leaned back. I attended a webinar recently where Duncan Wardle, from Disney, gave another example of an appropriate time to lean back. Disney released a personalized video in a couple of key spots, and then just let it go viral. Of course it took off. Who wouldn’t want to hear Goofy say her name in a news spot? (I included mine so that you can see it, at the bottom.)

Leaning back isn’t the same as doing nothing. The way I think of it, it’s more like supporting others to move forward. Encouraging others to contribute or share.

Personally…

Engagement is hardly a new concept, but somehow the images that sprang to mind with this characterization really hit home with me. I started to wonder if I lean or if I float. How much do you want to lean forward, and how much do you want to lean back, and when? What is the right mix? Is it really enough to join a group, get a membership or take a class if you aren’t ready to lean in and get as much out of it as you can? Is simply getting the assignment finished enough?

I don’t typically think of myself as a leader. I’m not sure that I have a high-minded vision or direction that I’m headed in, and I’m not even that sure that I’d want a whole bunch of people coming with me. But I like the feeling of going where I want to go, and if I can share a story, and find some people that have similar interests, so much the better. So far, making the effort to either lean in or lean back has been incredibly rewarding, and I feel like I get more out of what is happening around me when I do it.

So, if you’re one of the 5 people who will read this, feel free to lean in a little bit. Leave me a comment, or drop me a line.

Theresa’s special day at Disney