Several months ago I signed up for the unbelievable task of writing a whole fiction novel in one month a.k.a. NANOWRIMO. The fiction novel must be 50,000 words to qualify as a winner. (No, I did not add extra zeros there!) This particular novel-writing event is about quantity and not necessarily quality. No one reads the actual words, you just need to churn it out. I like this idea of focussing on creativity and not on structure, sentences, grammar, or spelling. How often in our lives can we focus for just one month on accomplishing a life-long dream? Maybe for me it is a life-long dream but for someone else it would be a nightmare.
I volunteered for staring at a blank page every single day of November with the objective of creating new and unique characters and then actually making them do something exciting, memorable, or at least interesting enough for others to read. I am not fooling myself on this challenge, because I know it will be a lot of hard work, but at the same time I am embracing it. The same way a marathoner embraces running. For me, I am running a race – a 30 day, 50k word race instead of a 26.2 mile foot race.
Some people might think I have signed up for a challenge of misery. Then again, I think people who sign up to run a marathon are the ones asking for misery. I am a runner – I know of what I speak. I ran a 1/2 marathon of which I was glad for the accomplishment, but I think I hit my limit on distance. I guess for writing, I am wondering what my ‘distance’ is. Can I go the distance and meet the deadline?
I ask anyone who is a novice writer, a wannabe writer, or a published writer to participate in this global event with me. Think about what you can accomplish:
1) Get carpal tunnel syndrome in just one month
2) Write a novel before Christmas and still have time for Christmas shopping
3) Save me from suffering this self-inflicted misery alone
4) Cross the finish line with a novel in hand
5) Share celebratory champagne, root beer, or cranberry juice with me on midnight on November 30th
Are you going to join in or just stand on the side-lines to cheer me on?
Quirky Contemplation 
I don’t participate in the NaNoWriMo mostly because it falls during my busiest month of the year and it would be impossible. The other reason is I don’t like someone else setting my deadlines for me.
That said, I do support people who participate because I know so many who get such a creative burst from it and feel really energised by the challenge.
Best of luck with the NaNoWriMo and I hope you achieve your goal.
Some incredible works have been done in as little time as that…. let’s see what you can do!