NaBloWriMo Day 29 - Are We There Yet Part 2

...continued

"I did a serious, hard look at why I wanted to take on the NaNoWriMo challenge and what I wanted to accomplish and came up with the following:"

NaNoWriMo is the motivation I need to write a novel (in just one month).  I can track my progress and get inspiration and support from fellow writers.

But why do I want to write a novel?  I had to break this down.  I definitely want to improve my writing skills. But do I need to write a novel to accomplish that?  Do I want others to read my work?  What do I have to offer that hasn't already been done that someone else would WANT to read?  My life story?  Parts of it maybe, but certainly not in its entirety!  As I asked myself these questions and pondered possible answers, I got down to the heart of the matter, and I realized it WAS the heart of the matter that mattered!!  I wouldn't be here today had my parents not gotten together and they wouldn't be here if their parents hadn't gotten together and so on down the ancestry line...which brought me to my reason for participating.

I have in my possession the letters my grandparents exchanged from the late 1920's during their courtship.  Five years ago when my grandmother passed away, I acquired the shoe box of correspondence that contained two surprising family stories. Upon reading a few pieces of the contents when the box was found, the stories began to unfold.  One of the stories was actually known by all of the family, but the other had been kept a secret--grandma had taken it to the grave (or so she thought).

Because of the age of the letters and the manner in which they had been stored, their fragile nature and mold spore content made it hard for us to continue to read them further...not to mention, they were not in chronological order making the story hard to piece together.  As the oldest grandchild, I was given the task of scanning/preserving the letters somehow.  I attempted this process by first trying to get the letters in order.  This was difficult due to the fact that grandma and grandpa rarely dated their letters to one another and the postmarks are mostly faded and stained making them unreadable.  Another attempt I made was just trying to read through the content to put them in order.  I had to work in a well-ventilated area with a mask on because the mold was getting to me pretty bad.  Scanning them didn't seem like an option since they are virtually falling apart.  I soon became frustrated and quit the project storing the box away.

Well...

...it's time to get the box back out!  Grandma and Grandpa's story needs to be told--if for no other reason than just for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren to read.  It needs to be pieced together now while there are still family members around to fill in the gaps.

I will persevere as I preserve and finish what I started five years ago.  The challenge of National Novel Writing Month and the goal of writing 1,667 words a day through the month of November is totally doable and will provide the drive I need to power through the transcribing, sorting, and writing of their story.

I will attempt to keep this blog updated with daily word counts and snippets of storyline to hold me accountable to my goal.

I am now getting excited to begin and need to get busy on my character sketches and plot...it has a wonderful ending! :)