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NaNoWriMo Started And I Have Not Begun Yet!

How difficult do you think this will be? With a plan, and a title and I even have the characters!

By Denise E LindquistPublished about a year ago 3 min read
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NaNoWriMo Started And I Have Not Begun Yet!
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is in November every year! This year I am getting a late start. Almost a week late. I am starting today November 6, 2022. The title of this story helped me to begin!

Today, on November 7, 2022, I have 5,149 words toward my 50,000. word goal. And of course, I didn't write that in just two days. Last summer at the NaNoWriMo summer camp I began to write this story and I did edit the words I wrote yesterday.

NaNoWriMo suggests just writing and editing it later to get to the 50,000. words. It is hard to do, but it is a great tip; I can do that most of the time now. At summer camp and in November, I never know if I will do more with the material than practice my writing.

Either way, it is good practice to keep writing no matter what.

I have thought of putting some stories together that I have written on Vocal and Medium. Then I have many poems/rhymes that have happened in the last several years during A Poem A Day In February, and on Vocal and Medium.

I changed my mind as in November a Novel is requested. Is a novel a combination of stories/rhymes/poetry already written?

One definition of novel is "a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism:" "the novels of Jane Austen".

I am writing about Dementia/Alzheimers which is mainly from my experience and training. I think it will be readable and enjoyable for some. The novel may be more a larger degree of realism than many novels.

The names will be changed to protect the innocent. Many names in my story are deceased now. And still, the names are changed.

So what can I tell you about Dementia/Alzheimers briefly? I went to my primary doctor after chemotherapy which kicked me into menopause. I had a respiratory code during the diagnosis of cancer and it left me with gaps in my memory.

And I couldn't multitask as I did before cancer and chemotherapy. After telling him all of that, he said, "Maybe you have dementia." I like doctors that say it like it is. Young guy, and maybe he does not have the best bedside manners, but I appreciated his straightforwardness.

I then said, well, if I have it I want to know. So he ordered a neuropsychological evaluation. When I finished the test earlier than I was told it would take I thought for sure I had failed it. No, I had not failed it. When I went for the interpretation of results, I was told several things.

* First, I had no markers for Dementia or Alzheimers.

* Second, my low score is attention, which means that if I am not paying attention, then I am not going to remember.

* Third, my high score is multitasking, and when a person is multitasking they tend to remember just what they consider important to remember.

I laughed at that answer to my test results as when I came off the respirator, I didn't remember being married to my then-third husband. That was not what they meant!

The not remembering only lasted a short time. I did recognize him. That should make the book fun right? Only, I may have to have the memory loss last a bit longer!

The training I took was from our state and it was specific to working with American Indian and African American people. So culture and socialization are important to consider when being a caregiver for both groups. I hope to have some fun with the story.

In my mind, because I have written a book about cancer, and diabetes, it is probably time for a dementia/Alzheimers story. So NaNoWriMo, here we go!

fact or fiction
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About the Creator

Denise E Lindquist

I am married with 7 children, 27 grands, and 12 great-grandchildren. I am a culture consultant part-time. I write A Poem a Day in February for 8 years now. I wrote 4 - 50,000 word stories in NaNoWriMo. I write on Vocal/Medium weekly.

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