I have done something fairly crazy.
I have signed up for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. This is a challenge in which millions of people around the world sign up to spend their November attempting to write a 50,000 word novel.
Will I actually hit the 50k by the end of the month? I have no idea, but I do know that I’ll have more written than I do right now. I’ve had an idea bouncing around in my head for over a year now, and I’m not doing myself any favors by not writing it.
What some people hate (but secretly I think I’ll like) is that the organizers stress that younot edit. Editing is for December, they say. November is just to write. If I’ve got a word goal and a free pass to just write without worrying about how it all looks, I may actually get something substantial created. The fact that I’m doing this before I have this baby means that it will probably get finished years sooner than if I would have waited.
In the past, I’ve always started novels about subjects that would require a lot of research on my part. Well, I’ve gotten a little bit more realistic in my recent years, and decided that that’s just not a good plan for me if I actually want to get a novel written.
So what do I know? Like, really know, without having to do any (or much) research about it?
I spent five years in a small university Theatre setting. I was surrounded by personalities and egos the size of small aircraft, and had plenty of truly meaningful moments during my time there. I’ve got five years of zany, passionate experiences just collecting dust up in my brain, and I think I can really breathe some life back into them if I just sit down and put my mind to it.
What this means, though, is that the month of November is probably going to be a little bleak as far as blogging goes. If I’ve got time to sit down at a computer, I damned well better be throwing a few words at that big ole 50k. I’ll still blog every Friday at Fruita Moms, and I’ll throw a post up here when I can, but I’m definitely not going to hurt myself trying to get in more than one post a week.
Finally, I’ve got a request for you guys. If you see me, or talk to me, please make sure I’m writing. I don’t care if you’re gentle or obnoxious about it; I would just really appreciate the random nudge to keep me on track. Whether I hit the 50k is not all that important to me; I just don’t want to do this lazily. I want it to be purposeful and fulfilling, and I’m going to need a little help keeping my eyes on the prize.
Thanks in advance, friends. I’m ready to give November a big, sloppy kiss on the lips.