NaNoWriMo Starts Friday

My novel emailed me a couple of weeks ago, begging me to work on it. When I logged into my NaNoWriMo account, I noticed it had been two YEARS since I'd been there. That poor neglected novel never was meant to be, an idea abandoned on the side of the road at least a half dozen plots ago.

In case you are unfamiliar, NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month, or something close to that. I am not good with exact quotes: Movies, song lyrics, acronyms ... I botch them all in equal measure. FTW, even. (You don't want to know what I thought FTW meant. You probably do know. And if you think that's what it means, you are wrong.)

I run through plots regularly while I'm showering, blowing my hair dry, attempting to straighten the waves with a flat iron held together with electrical tape. My characters speak -- sometimes their voices are audible. And if I'm writing in my head while getting ready for bed (maybe I should try poetry INSTEAD! See what I did there?!), I often wonder if my family thinks I've lost it. I've heard it's okay to talk to yourself. It's when your self starts answering back that you have to worry. Many times full conversations take place in my bathroom when I am the only human in the room. And crazy does run in my family. But so does drama, so I think I'm safe. For now.

As you may or may not have noticed, I regularly neglect this blog. I have published only a handful of entries this year. I am not entirely confident I will be successful with NaNoWriMo, which begins this Friday, November 1. By 11:59 p.m. November 30, I will need to have 50,000 words written down  in order to successfully complete the program. 

I have most of a plot ready to go. I have four to six characters pretty well thought out. I am struggling to decide whether I should write the whole thing in first person or third, third being easiest for me. I struggle with dialogue. I get bored with writing scenes. I tire of typing. If I could dictate the whole thing, I'd probably be more successful. If I had a WRITTEN outline, I know I'd be more successful. I'm hoping success comes packaged in the official 2gb USB NaNoWriMo armband I've ordered for the month. I will wear it daily as a reminder that I need to churn out some copy. I will pretend it has magical powers, enabling the words to flow so quickly, my fingers will have a hard time keeping pace. (I had to write about magic somewhere, since it won't be in my novel.)

I am committed. Mostly. As committed as I can be without a real goal past the 50,000 words. I'm hoping that the next time you see me here, I won't be hanging my head in shame. That's one reason I wanted to make a public declaration of my intent to finally write a complete novel. Maybe, just maybe, this blog post will prompt me to continue writing. It's all in my brain. I just need to get it down on paper. Don't we all?

Join me if you dare. Wish me luck, if you please. Both are mightily appreciated.