NaNoWriMo…What tha?

It’s a damp, rainy morning, I’m jacked up on caffeine, and I’m writing a novel. Just like that I’ve become a cliche.

It’s bold and terrifying to announce this whole writing a novel business. For the last several months I’ve debated how I would spill the beans that a very determined, and slightly annoying, character has taken up residence in the right hemisphere of my brain. I assumed I would write her out of my head and onto the pages of a best-selling novel and then casually mention, sitting perfectly coiffed on the swank set of the The Today Show, that I have been a tad busy. You know, writing.

The problem is I’ve spent more time debating what to wear on the book tour—I’m currently stumped over my boot selection for the Prague signing—than I have writing. I’ve also been slightly distracted by the interior design project I’m spearheading to turn the guest bedroom into a novel-worthy office. OK. So, the office, like my novel, is technically in concept mode, but I do have a Pinterest board dedicated to the effort. It’s entitled I Could Write A Novel Here and you should check it out. Clever how I selected the word ‘could’, huh? No promises, people.

Obviously, I’ve only scratched the surface in the book writing process. And, while I feel comfortable about the progress I’m making in the wardrobe and design departments, Husband has requested that my latest endeavor produce more than a MasterCard bill. I love that man, but he resides in the left side of his brain. However, since he is the patron of my literary society, I best move from red to black in fairly short order.

Lucky for Husband I saw a tweet announcing NaNoWriMo, which translates National Novel Writing Month. On November 1, writers from around the world will begin a thirty day quest to write their novels. I will be one of the estimated 300,000 participants. Nothing like safety in numbers! The NaNoWriMo stated goal is for participants to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. My goal is to try.

Just to emphasize the herculean feat this will be for me, the average blog post I write is between 500 – 700 words. A prolific week for me is 1,500 words. Of non-fiction. To meet NaNoWriMo’s stated goal, I will have to write more than 1,600 words a day. Of fiction.

See why the office renovation project came first?

I’m grateful for the NaNoWriMo project. Left to my own ADD tendencies I might spend years posing as a writer eventually reduced to avoiding the townsfolk whisper that I’m all office and no novel. November will be a great litmus test. Will I ultimately pen the novel that’s brewing in my brain? I have no idea. But, as they say, the book ain’t going to write itself.

The first piece of advice found on the friendly forums of the NaNoWriMo community website is to tell everyone who will listen that you are participating in the thirty days and nights of literary abandon. Apparently, the instinct to quit writing forever that inevitably kicks in at Week Two is generally trumped by the embarrassment of having to admit you gave up. More than the fear of personal humiliation, I’m really reluctant to tell you I’m writing a novel now because it totally blows my surprise announcement on The Today Show plan.

Meanwhile, it’s no longer raining, my coffee is cold and the caffeine buzz is fading, but I’m still writing a novel. But first, I need to create a playlist for my protagonist.