NaNoWriMo and Other Fatal Maladies

This week, I'm proud to announce my status as an "Official Participant" in NaNoWriMo 2011. For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo stands for "National Novel Writing Month," which takes place annually in the month of November. My goal will be to write a 50,000-word novel in about 25 days. In short, I'm terrified.

So terrified.

According to Microsoft's Calculator suite, that equals 2000 words a day, or roughly 1.4 words a minute for 25 days straight. Why subject myself to such rushed literary torture? Three reasons:



1. I eventually want to write full time, which means writing (almost) everyday. I want to see what that's like, and NaNoWriMo gives me a good excuse.

2. I have a problem with accountability. With NaNoWriMo approaching in November, I now have a hard deadline for finishing my short stories, allowing me to move on to my novel.

3. I've been challenged. Fellow writer and blogger Candice Coghill threw down her proverbial glove on Facebook earlier this week, and I am now honor-bound to kick her literary tail.

Since I promised to document the experience of writing my first novel, I will be releasing frequent updates throughout the month of November, providing fresh and exciting updates from the gritty novel-writing front lines. Wartime press coverage will boldly go where no split infinitive has gone before.

***

Lastly, I've recently submitted a piece to the Reader's Digest contest, "Your Life....The Reader's Digest Version." The contest consists of 150-word stories, lessons, advice, etc. The winner receives $25,000 as well as publication. The contest was a great exercise, as it forced me to condense my message to a strict word limit and trained me to make every word count. I highly recommend everyone to give this a go. You can read and vote for my entry here.  Best of luck to anyone who enters!

Also, I've added my NaNoWriMo profile to the links on the left sidebar of my blog homepage. Check me out, or better yet, sign up and friend me. =) Until next time...

Game on,

J