30 Days of Literary Abandon

In just under two hours I will be embarking on one of the scariest endeavors. Hot off the heals of my victory in NaBloPoMo (it's official as of now) I'm throwing caution to the wind yet again. In fact, I'm raising the stakes.

I am a participant in this year's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge here is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. The reward: the first draft of a novel.

For someone like me who has said, "I'd like to write a book someday," this is a shot in the arm like no other. The goal is 1,667 words a day. We're not going for literary genius. We're looking for words on the page. December is for editing.

The program is not without its critics, but what isn't. The main critique is that nothing good can be written quickly. I know this to be untrue. Professional writers produce 2,000 words a day. Many of them hold down day jobs. (Professional novelists make about $5,000 a year.)

The other objection seems to be that people that need encouragement of this type probably shouldn't be novelist anyway. What elitist garbage! There must have been something that encouraged every novelist that ever wrote to plant his or her butt in a chair and put words to page. Who's to say what is and isn't a valid motive?

Let me climb down from my soapbox and get to work. I'll be posting here infrequently if at all in November. Check the NaNoWriMo widget at the right and the details link just below it to check up on me. Please, shout at me if I'm falling behind schedule. There's no motivation like guilt.

See you on the other side of this. Hopefully I'll have a manuscript in hand.