NaNoWriMo

Sometime in September or October I came across NaNoWriMo or the National Novel Writing Month website. Since I have always wanted to write a novel but have no inkling of how and when I would or could start, I thought that signing up for NaNoWriMo would send me dining, drinking, sleeping and whirling with words and characters. But circumstances seemed to block me from writing even a blog article so I was not surprised when I found this letter on my mail this morning:

Dear National Novel Writing Month Author,

The noveling season is almost upon us. If you have already come back to the NaNoWriMo site and signed up for another year of literary abandon, we say: Hello! We’re so glad to have you back. If you are thinking about possibly sitting this year out, we say: Don’t make us come after you.

Seriously. The world needs your new novel. You may not know what you’ll write about. That’s fine. You may think you’re too busy to write a novel this year. That’s okay too. We understand. You’re busy. It’s a fact.

But you know what? Every year, you spend so much of your time doing things for other people. You show up at work and school close to on time five days a week, and you do a good job there. You’re nice to your friends. You take care of your family.

Is it too much to ask for a single month of creative playtime in return for all your labors? Don’t you deserve a 30-day literary vacation? One where you set sail with 100,000 other adventurers and discover one of your great, unwritten novels?

We think you do.

So we have a proposal: Come to the site and sign in. Check out the sweet word-count header. Listen to the NaNoWriMo Supercollider spin out your fortune on WrimoRadio. Update your profile with the cool new synopsis and bio areas. Think about coming to this year’s Night of Writing Dangerously Write-a-thon. Survey the list of celebrity pep talkers who will be sending you encouraging emails in November. Settle in.

Then, if you decide you don’t have time to write a novel, that’s okay. You can shut off these emails under “Edit User Settings” and go back to real life.

But for now? A ship to adventure is steaming out of port on November 1. We want to see you on board.

Your fan,

Chris Baty

Cruise Director, NaNoWriMo

What did you expect?  Of course I was shocked that I even forgot I signed up for it.  But despite that, the email brought me back to my dream of being a novel writer.  And guess what tickled me back to it?  I had a fan…Chris Baty!  Hehehe, Thanks, Chris!  That’s very nice of you!  Writing down “your fan” didn’t only inspire but also challenged me.

Wish me luck!