No Turning Back Now

Those of you who have read my bio see that I've described myself as a frustrated writer of fiction. Frustrated because my "writing process" usually goes like this: (1) I have an idea that I think is pretty good; (2) I try and flesh it out a little bit, scribble things down on notepads or on the laptop; and (3) I do nothing whatsoever afterwards. Thus, the evidence shows that I'm more of a procrastinating writer than a frustrated one.

So I did something drastic. I signed up a write a novel next month. Last night I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the point of which is to prod people to write 50,000 words during November. They have a nice laid back approach (from the welcome Email):

It's okay to not know what you're doing. Really. You've read a lot of novels, so you're completely up to the challenge of writing one. No plot? No problem! If you feel more comfortable outlining your story ahead of time, absolutely do so. But it's also fine to just wing it. Write everyday, and a book-worthy story will appear, even if you're not sure what that story might be right now.

Good to hear, since I have no idea what I'm going to write about yet. Why tell you all about it?

Tell everyone you know that you're writing a novel in November. This will pay big dividends in Week Two, when the only thing keeping you from quitting is the fear of looking pathetic in front of all the people who've had to hear about your novel for the past month. Seriously. Email them now about your awesome new book. The looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse.

So, see, it's a win-win for you folks: If I produce some best-selling masterpiece (or even best-selling trash), you can say "I knew him when." If I fall flat on my face, you can stand by Nelson Muntz style and cackle to your heart's content.

Once I get rolling, I'll keep things updated. Wish me luck!