NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us!
It's a little bit scary to think about, if I'm being honest.
For those of you who don't know what it is..... shame on you.
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. For the entire month of November crazy writers all over the world circle the wagons and commit to writing an entire 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That's a big freaking deal. To accomplish such insanity one much write a consistent 1667 words per day. (Whether you are inspired or not, which is the challenge.)
Last year I participated, but because I was also in a musical at the time I procrastinated much of my writing, sometimes not writing at all for a few days. Which meant by the end I had to write 20,000 words in 4 days. That was an adventure...
My family had a great time too! I lived on the computer and refused to do anything else, forgetting the necessities of food and sleep, while basically obsessing over this insane goal I had set for myself. My poor family didn't see much of me that fateful November. They were pretty sick of NaNoWriMo once it was done. But that is beside the point!
THE POINT of this outrageous and borderline impossible challenge is the challenge itself. In the same way that my favorite comedian Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days, it's going to hurt. The process, though not involving blisters or freezing rain, is a painful one. You'll find yourself having said what you planned to say, with half your book left. So you end up pulling new plot lines and characters out of your bum, and many times being shocked at how perfectly it all falls into place.
It's a marathon of the mind, not intended for the faint of heart. In fact, it's such a daunting task that I'm already looking forward to it... and it's only July!
So yeah. If you've got a love of writing, or you're just a crazy lunatic who likes to challenge yourself (I'm a bit of both) then do it. Go to the NaNoWriMo website and pledge your allegiance! Then, who knows? By the end of the month you may have written a novel, all by yourself. So you can introduce yourself like this, "Hello. My name is blankety blank. And I write a novel in one month. I'm a novelist, that's right."
Eternal Glory awaits you at the finish line. As well as brownie points and bragging rights forever.