"We are twelve billion light years from the edge, That's a guess, No-one can ever say it's true"

I've got two things to talk about this blog: NaNoWriMo and Freecycle. A little unrelated, but here we go.

1.NaNoWriMo
I've read a lot about this on other blogs, but it wasn't those which made me decide to attempt NaNoWriMo. I have a few literary friends: I don't really understand this, I'm a scientific brain, but one of them managed to use her persuasive powers to make me do attempt NaNoWriMo. In case you haven't heard, it's 50,000 words in 30 days.

I'm writing on the 18th November. And I've been sitting on over 50k for 2 days. In Nano terminology, that means I've "won". To be honest, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Not that it wasn't difficult, of course writing over 3,000 words a night for 16 nights in a row was. I haven't seen a television program, haven't read a book, and my long luxurious baths have gone out of the window.

I'm a planner: a massive planner. In the week before November 1st, I wrote a handwritten plan in bullet points that was over 50 pages long. This has helped me massively, and I feel that I would have been lost without it. Sure, I've deviated, but in  the end I kept the general plot in the plan.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not finished yet. I reckon I will end around 60,000 words,  but I don't quite know. I'm sure that what I have written in the main is utter rubbish, but that isn't important. I have no intention of publishing what I have written, or allowing anyone to read it other than a few close friends.

No, the most important thing to me is that I've challenged myself and "won". I've written something that is at least 5 times longer than anything else I've written in 18 days. That requires some dedication. If I can do that, I'll think twice next time I see something as "impossible", and perhaps this is the moral of NaNoWriMo for me.

2. Freegle


Freegle, is a pretty well known phenomenon. Many groups used to be part of freecycle, but in a series of event that I can't quite be bothered to understand, Freegle split from Freecycle. That isn't really my point, though.

I love Freegle. Many commentators plead that society is collapsing with technology: people spend less and less time with each other and become less and less charitable.  Many blame this on the Internet.

I don't agree: last week I was in need of a desk (see NaNoWriMo above). Looking up prices online, I saw them close to the £50 mark. This seemed ridiculous for a basic desk that I wasn't really bothered about looking good. So I posted on my local Freegle group.

Within 24 hours, I got a reply: someone had one, could I collect? They even enclosed a photo. It was just what I needed, and I felt so pleased that someone had given up even a little of their time to do something nice for no reward.

Not that I haven't posted things for others on there myself, but somehow I seemed to be astounded that someone else would do the same for me. Maybe the tabloid headlines are having an effect.

Either way, and even though I've emailed you, I would like to thank you, freegler- you've really showed me that perhaps there's some reason to believe that perhaps there are people out there who aren't just selfish after all.


November has been a great month already, but perhaps it's taught me more than I've learnt in a while. And perhaps David Cameron should study freegle for his "Big Society."

~Malia