NaNoWriMo--Is it in You?

I did it. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month. If you haven't yet, it's not too late. Be warned though, the website is moving slowly tonight. Lots of last minute writers logging in and signing up. Leave it to writers to put off action until the last minute. We are champs at procrastination.

Most Novembers I am already in the middle of one or two projects and can't commit to writing 50K words on anything else. This year found me between contracts and between writing projects, so I thought, "Hey, why not?"

In June '09 my darling husband woke up from a dream and laid out an entire romantic synopsis for me. Most writers have dreamed something that might spark an idea for a book or make a cute scene in a novel, or is just a kick to play around with. But his idea had complete novel potential. Best part, it was a romance, typically not something he thinks about or I write.

That story has nagged at me since last June when I transcribed his recounting into 8 pages of a synopsis. I've made a few changes, expounded on a few characters and sub-plots, and I'm rip-roaring ready to go tomorrow.

If you haven't signed up for NaNoWriMo or don't even know what it is, check out the website. It's not that complicated. Nor is it intimidating if you clear your head, fasten your rear to the chair and let the characters have their way. That's the best thing about NaNo. No plotting if you don't want, no editing--it's absolutely forbidden. How else will you reach your word count?--no stressing over plot points and submission guidelines. The whole point is to see if you can actually bang out 50K words in a month.

My guess is you can. Who's with me? What have you got to lose? You might even find gold.