In 19 days I will either be chattering away on my keyboard or staring at a blank screen, having deleted “It was a dark and stormy night.” Here’s some reference for those unfamiliar with the phrase beyond seeing Charles Shcultz’s Snoopy atop his doghouse on his typewriter.
In any case, The National Novel Writing Month begins soon and I am anticipating it quite a lot this year as I have missed the past few years, busy with studies, the Bug and Life In General. I still intend to draft an idea but it could change at the last moment. It has before. When that happens, it adds a whole new level of urgency and panic to the project since there will have been no forethought, no preparation, no psyching up.
I recommend everyone with an idea that is to be the Greatest Novel Ever and a penchant for writing to give it a try. To make the 50,000-word limit, a writer need only kick out 1,667 words a day. That’s difficult and easy. “It was a dark and stormy night” is only 7 words. There’s a lot more needed to make that daily goal. But once the flow starts, you may have two thousand down before you know it. You can stop there for the day or pound out another 2k. there’s no Daily Count rule. You can do 5k in one day and take a day off if you like. If you don’t cross the finish in time, well, so what? There is no failure in this. It’s for the fun of it. If you make it, yay! You get to download a Winner’s Certificate. If you don’t make it, there’s always next year (and other contests they run outside of November). Nobody will think any less of you. I have a few incomplete tries in my Projects list which just makes me more determined to have a better go at it next time! My best year had me at over 65,000 words. Maybe I can break a record this year.
R.B. Ray 