National Novel Writing Month is November

It’s interesting, but just when you figure that you’ve got things under control and your projects are sitting there in a real orderly fashion life throws you a curve ball and suddenly your schedule gets real tight. This is a fun thing, though. For the last couple of years, always too late, I find out that the National Novel Writing Month in November has commenced. The operative words there are, “too late”. This year I got a head’s up. And I signed up.

It doesn’t cost anything. You start writing on November 1 and stop writing on November 30. Your goal is to get to 50,000 words. In the forums at NaNoWriMo.org are a boat load of people you can listen to, ask questions of and just generally hang out with when you’re not busy writing. You do need to sign up. You get a certificate of completion if you get the 50,000 words. You can say you participated no matter how many words you end up writing. You tried is the important thing.

Originally, the contest was geared toward adults but they do have a section now for kids 12 and under. And, for the first time in February of 2007 they will be having one especially for people who want to write screen plays.

Although it doesn’t cost anything they do accept donations. The hope is that they will be able to build 2 children’s libraries in Vietnam.

What impressed me were the number of participants and the people who finished (won).

1999: 21 participants and six winners
2000: 140 participants and 29 winners
2001: 5,000 particpants and more than 700 winners
2002: 13,500 participants and around 2,100 winners
2003: 25,500 participants and about 3,500 winners
2004: 42,000 participants and just shy of 6,000 winners
2005: 59,000 participants and 9,769 winners.

To reach 50,000 words in a month I figure I’m going to have to produce 3 pages a day with approximately 600 words per page. If I am able to do that every day I would have 54,000 words.

Anyway, I lay in bed mulling over what I’d write about. That’s always one of the hardest things for me to decide upon. I figured I’d need to have that question answered before November 1st. Seth, my guide, suggested that I channel a book. My first thought was absolute delight. It tingled up and down my spine and in the way of focusing I could take that as a whole body YES. My second thought was that it probably didn’t qualify as a novel. That’s when he pointed out that it would be a book and more suited to what I’m into these days than a novel is.

The challenge for me and why I’m writing this blog entry here is that I’m going to be pushing myself personally with the channeling end of things. I can channel up a storm, but I don’t have a lot of stamina at it these days. I operate best in fits and starts. I also have a tendency to “clench up” when the information coming through is controversial or confusing. What I have to work on is the actual surrendering to spirit to allow the information to flow easily. That’s the challenge. Can I do it for 3 pages a day? For an entire month? Can I keep my own personal stuff out of it? So, that’s another aspect.

I’m going to try.