NaNoWriMo!

So Tuesday is November first which means something new to me this year!  I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo!  The goal is to write a 50,000 word book in 30 days--no stopping to edit, just bang it out--which ends up being ~1667 words a day.

While I don't have an idea for a fiction novel in mind, I have decided to write a collection of essays.  Not a memoir necessarily but I have some pretty funny stories from my life and some not-so-funny ones that I think need to be told.  I am going to shoot for 2000 word essays, and I have about 30 ideas.  I am hoping to come up with more before November starts because I know not all of them will work out. If I shoot for 2000 words, I will write 25 essays so I need a lot of padding :) some will be longer, some will be shorter, but that's okay.  The working title is "Grandma Hates Me."

This is a daunting challenge for me but I have some pretty specialized skills that I think will give me a cutting edge in hitting the word count.  For one thing, I probably type 50,000 words in a week through my job so it's not a number that freaks me out.  Also I have a program of typing abbreviations that I am certified in, and today I bought and downloaded the personal version.  I'm actually using it right now and it's pretty sweet.

I don't plan on trying to get my book published, so it's possible I'll post a few of my essays here on my blog for your enjoyment :)

Pretty excited for the coming month.  I used to write all the time, fantasy stories and stuff, but all my inspiration just dried up and I haven't been able to write for fun for years.  So it's like immersion therapy.  I'll update you on my progress periodically but don't expect anything in depth, as I'll probably have carpal tunnel by the time I hit 50,000 haha.  I hope not.