NanoWriMo

So I've joined NanoWriMo.

NanoWriMo, for the uninitiated (which up to yesterday included myself) is National Novel Writing Month. It's a non-profit association (sponsored by the non-profit Office of Letters and Lights), whose point is to encourage authors to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.

I have either taken a bold new step, or completely sunk myself in over my head (for them that were wondering, the required word count to reach this is 1,600 words a day).

Bold. As if it was actually costing me anything but time to write this. But I at least want to try.

I've two unpublished manuscripts sitting here on my hard drive, both of which (I suppose) have potential but I find myself harbored in my own Port of Fear. The reality is, I have never like the critiquing process that is so crucial to writing, so I write for myself and then hide it away. The fact I went as far as I did to start this blog is (as I think about it) more of a risk than I had initially considered.

But even writing these other manuscripts, there is a still a story that lies buried within. A fantasy, the kind of which I secretly (almost as a sort of guilty pleasure) continue to love to read. I always have an excuse: not enough time, not good enough writer, no idea where it is really going.

But everyone I read simply say "Write". Whether it starts out good or not, whether the end product is good or not, just write. The rest can come later; the initial part is the most difficult.

And so what better way to try to write than putting myself up against a deadline, in something that requires my commitment (the least expensive and yet most difficult thing of all) - and publicly announce that I am doing the thing?

So you, my readers, can keep me honest: do I end November with 50,000 words and a completed manuscript, or do I (once again) make excuses for not doing something I want to do?

Hang on to your seats. Here we go.