A Shocking New Goal

I am going to completely stun all of you with this revelation. I think I really want to write a novel.

You are probably saying, "What the Heck! Mom is a QUILTER not a NOVELIST! WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO HER????"

Well, a few years ago, when I was dead set on writing a how-to-quilt book, I checked out lots of books from the library about how to get published. I basically wanted to know how to type the book in the correct format, how to find a publisher, etc. Instead, I kept accidentally checking out books on how to write a novel. And the more I read them, the more I said to myself, "I could do that!"

Just like you, I have had lots of crazy and weird and thought-provoking things that have either happened in my own life, or I have been a witness to them happening in other people's lives, and the more these little anecdotes rattle around in my brain the more they collide and form plotlines and dialogue and IT COULD REALLY BE A GOOD NOVEL. So there.

The most interesting book on writing that I came across, was one called No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days, by Chris Baty. He started the National Novel Writing Month ( called NaNoWriMo) in 1999 with 21 friends, and they all made a goal to write 50,000 words in 30 days. By the next year, 140 people signed up, and 21 of them succeeded in writing 50,000 words.

Last year, 2009, they had 119,301 adult participants worldwide, and 21,683 had achieved the goal. It looks like loads of fun, and I want to do it too. (Only 1,667 words per day, shouldn't be TOO hard.)

National Novel Writing Month is Nov. 1-Nov. 30, and unless I have a super hard new church calling after seminary ends, writing a novel is what I will be doing that month. Anyone want to join me?

Check out the website: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano

(from their website) What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.