It's that time of year: NaNoWriMo's just around the corner

At the stroke of midnight, October 31^st, 2014, I will embark upon my third NaNoWriMo.  This year, I’ll be doing what I wanted to do my first NaNo: focusing on completing my non-fiction WIP (Swimming with Swans) for submission in this month long challenge.

In NaNoWriMo lingo this means, I am being a rebel.
Basically, NaNoWriMo’s rules are to write 50,000 words in 30 days, starting the writing from scratch, amassing word count from November 1^st through the 30^th, and writing in the fiction genre of one’s choice.  Because NaNoWriMo is geared towards penning a work of fiction from start to finish in 30 days, I heartily recommend anyone doing NaNoWriMo for the first time to do it ‘right.’  That way, all the resources, support systems, fun and informative pep-talks directly relate to the totality of the NaNo-ing experience.
My own first NaNo was exhilarating. Never having written an entire chapter of a novel much less the whole dang thing, I jumped in with eyes wide open and did it. Needless to say, it was a challenge but I got much more out of it by not being a rebel even if I pretty much pantsed* that one.
The NaNoWriMo bug bit me hard.  I loved delving into fiction so much, I tackled my second NaNo with an outline in hand, adding planning* to my basic pantster approach.  Both years yielded two NaNo Drafts I could sink my teeth into and edit/revise.
This year, I feel I have earned the right to rebel and focus on that original still in-progress non-fic mss along with some other stuff to add word count- HA!  Essentially, I am using this year’s NaNo time to complete my Swimming with Swans project integrating my musical compositions alongside the vignettes.  This expanded version is a project I’ve had in mind for some time.
In fact, I have coined a term I hope to get credit for if it indeed becomes a true new writing genre: Musical Non-Fiction.
We’ll see.
Meanwhile, I’m off to the ‘NaNo Rebels’ forum on the NaNoWriMo site to declare my status.  Yes, there’s a place for rebels in the world of NaNo.
*panster & planner- NaNo terms describing writing approaches