November 1 means the start of the National Novel Writing Month! Now lest you think this insanity is just happening here in the Excited States of America, let me set the record straight. NaNo is world wide! There are people in Asia who are close to starting on Day 2 of this 30 day descent in to insanity and novel writing. The goal: 50,000 words in 30 days (that works out to about 1700 words a day). If you think that is a trivial amount of writing, then I encourage, nay, I challenge you to participate. This will be my fourth year, and so far, I have no clue what I am going to write about. I just know that 30 days from now, I will be a little greyer and hopefully, I will have cranked out some sort of novel. It might be like last year, where the novel crossed the mark but was never really finished as a story, or maybe it will be like 2009 where I not only crossed the finish line, but also finished the story. I am certainly hoping I do not repeat 2010 where I not only did not cross the finish line, but I barely got out of the starting blocks - a paltry 4,000 words written. I could say I had a good excuse - and I did, a new job, and very busy getting acclimated, but really, I did not feel inspired and so I did not write.
So, sharpen your pencil, grab your word processor, and dive into that novel. The motto of the month is "No Plot, No Problem," so do not let anything stand in your way! Skip the laundry! Put out a month of food for the pets, and tell your family you will see them in December (you wanted an excuse not to visit the in-laws for Thanksgiving anyway right?) and get writing!
I will see you at the end!