By posting this, I'm taking the chance of completely publicly humiliating myself, but in roughly 3-1/2 hours, I will begin tapping out the first tentative sentences of my
Very First Novel (working title).
If you're not familiar with
NaNoWriMo, it's a, well, a challenge, I suppose. A challenge to write a 50,000-word novel between 12:00:01 a.m. November 1 and the stroke of midnight November 30. Now, at 50,000 words in 30 days*, this will be what Anne Lamott describes as a "shitty first draft." In fact, you're encouraged to check you inner editor at the door. The point here is to write, write, WRITE!
So, why do something so, um, INSANE? I think that's one of the best reasons for doing it. It is crazy and it's challenging and it's a chance to let my imagination loose. Also, come November 30 (assuming I haven't had a complete meltdown), I'll be able to say I've written a novel. (I'll have another 11 months to edit it and the rest of my life to flog it to publishers!) Seriously, how many of you out there have thought about writing a novel but just keep saying you'll do it Some Day? Or, worse, you have this great idea for a novel, but you won't sit down and write the bloody thing because you're afraid of ruining your idea by actually
writing it (a point that NaNoWriMo's founder echoes in his book)? For me, it's a matter of firing up the computer, killing my Internets connection and just writing it (and having notebooks and Post-It index cards at close reach when I'm not at the computer). No more "one day/some day" novel: today (um, tomorrow) I write this novel BECAUSE I CAN.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go conjure up some characters. And one of those plot-thingies. Wish me luck!
(
pssst! You still can sign up for this year's NaNoWriMo!...just click the image or the link in the
first second paragraph.)
*(For the mathematically-challenged, 50,000 words / 30 days = 1,667 words per day, more or less.)
NOW GROOVIN' TO:
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) from the album "Document" by
R.E.M.Technorati Tags: NaNoWriMo
