NaPlWriMo 2011 Rhino Burst #1: There's Still Time

Rhino Bursts* are written specifically for the community by people we deem worthy of rallying Rhinos with the magic of their words. Rhino Bursts offer inspiration, advice, and that extra bit of juice we need as we focus on getting out that first draft.

 *A burst is the sound that an adult rhino makes, though it is barely audible to human ears. A baby rhino on the other hand makes a squeak.

Our first burst is from a fellow Rhino, Colleen Hughes.

Congrats, Rhinos! We’ve made it through week one! Throughout the first week, I hope you were able to get started and learn some more about your characters or their stories along the way. And if you’re feeling lost, don’t worry! There’s still plenty of time to figure out where your characters are taking you.

I’m currently feeling a combination of excitement to keep writing and stress at the idea of keeping up this pace. But what makes this month so great is that we don’t have to face the challenge alone. The Forums really are a wonderful place. Have you done your Weekly Check-In yet? I strongly encourage you do so if you haven’t. It’s a great way to keep in touch with the community and see the progress everyone else is making. It’s also one of the ways I keep myself motivated. Knowing that there’s a group of people I’ll be telling my progress to makes me more eager to keep going. On that note, I also should mention that I love the Daily Check-Ins too and totally recommend dropping by once a day. Even if you haven’t been able to write, the community is there to support you and offer encouragement. Sometimes if I’m sitting at my computer and dreading getting started, I’ll let myself pop over to the website and check out the Daily Check-Ins to see how everyone else is doing. After that I tell myself that I can’t post anything until after I work on my play. Of course, there’s also days where the writing is just not going to happen. I still like to check in on those days because I feel like it keeps me in touch with the community, which fuels my excitement to keep going. So much of playwriting, or any type of writing, is spent alone, and I love that this month provides a welcome break from that.

So let’s take all the initial excitement we had in the first few days of Naplwrimo and carry it with us into week two! I know all too well that sometimes once the novelty of starting a new project wears off, it can be harder to stay motivated, but the community is here to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re all going through the same struggles and the same breakthroughs. So come on over to the forums to celebrate, commiserate, or motivate. And good luck heading into week two! We can do this!

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Colleen M. Hughes is a playwright from Boston, Massachusetts. She has an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University, and her work has been developed at the College of the Holy Cross and the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. She had her debut production last spring when her ten-minute play The Mouse was featured in the Boston Theatre Marathon. Colleen is currently a New Voices Playwriting Fellow at the New Repertory Theatre. She’s been involved with NaPlWriMo since 2008 and looks forward to it every year. Check out Colleen's website here.

Albrecht Dürer

(Rhino Woodcut - 1515)