Friday, October 29, 2010

NaNoWriMo, nahh-na-na-na-nahh

The craziest thing happened on the exit ramp of this blog... 




Go, see Ann at Lake E: NaNoWriMo


See me at Wild Turtle Crossing


And find Maura, Maura? Where are you?


The three of us are jumping into National Novel Writing Month, a marathon on keyboard starting Monday, November 1.   The goal?  To draft a 50,000-word novel/novella/long story from start to finish (well sorta) in 30 days.   


I can't imagine how this will go for me. Which is pitiful, considering the entire point is to exercise the imagination.  Open on my desktop is a long letter from the NaNoWri-To Team outlining the rules of engagement (no rules), the opportunities for discovery and literary madcap fun (I think not) , and suggestions for getting through the month despite the  "specter of personal humiliation" looming at every page. 


"You've read a lot of novels," the email states, "so you're completely up to the challenge of writing one."  Oh really?  I don't know about you, but I find there's a distinction between a reading an actual book and facing an actual blank page.


I don't have a plan, other than to crawl along the page, at my own pace,  one word at a time, 1667 words a day, sweeping every last crumb, note, and passing observation into the word count.   I barely have a glimmer of where to start.  Breaking the first rule to "write what you know," I'm heading down the road, knowing nothing whatsoever  -- winging it, a wild turtle crossing.


Wish us luck.  And thanks for stopping by.        

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