I am sitting here contemplating participating in NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) again. This would be the third year in a row. I feel like Lance Armstrong on a roll, and wonder if I should go for one more victory. Another book of 50,000 words? I know I can write that many words, but I wonder if I can write something meaningful. Something that other people would want to read. I want to write. I love to write, but I feel like writing so much volume and having it grow stale on my computer is a waste. A waste of words.

I can use the month of writing to hone my craft. Like a triathlete who swims, bikes and runs everyday, I too need to train and I know I have let my writing muscles atrophy this last year. I wrote more poems this year than anything else, so it was not a total loss. My writing practice didn’t stall completely (I have numerous full journals to show for it). I did however stop sharing my work, which makes me sad. I have so much to say and the point is to be heard, not to just tell the paper.

The other challenge is coming up with fiction for NANOWRIMO. What story do I have to tell? I write from the heart and from my own experience. How can I put that into individual characters? I am faced with the writing challenge that every writer faces every day, writer’s block. Not just the ability to write, but to write something good. I doubt when Picasso painted or sketched that he thought each picture would be a masterpiece. Instead of focusing on the masterpiece, I need to focus on the process, the experience, the journey of writing. Every time I write, I start out one place and end up somewhere else. Like Indiana Jones on a new adventure – who knows what lurks behind the next corner (or in this case the next paragraph). Time to stop worrying and just get down to it and write, write, write. Right?