National Something or Other

It's November.

Stop and think about that for a second. Do you have any feelings about that statement?

No? Nothing? Me either.

I've decided that November is a nothing month. No offense November, but you don't have much to offer. The once-beautiful fall leaves now litter the brown, dying earth. It's cold, but there's no snow to play in. And we're already thinking way past November anyhow, thanks to the over-commercialization of Christmas. I know November's not completely wasted ... there is that lovely day we currently call Thanksgiving, but I'm sure the name will eventually get changed to The Day to Gorge and Store Up Energy for Black Friday. Besides, it's hard to get excited for a day that makes your pants too tight.

So someone out there in the writing world decided that since November is the great month of nothingness, all writers should make good use of that extra time and write a novel. Hence, November was declared National Novel Writing Month. And then it was hence decided that name was too long, so therefore it became NaNoWriMo.

The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. For those of you who don't count the words on every page of a book you are reading, that's a short novel: less than 200 pages in a pocket-book format. I tend to write loooonger books. Catalyst is roughly 150,000 words. So, while I am participating in NaNoWriMo (for the first time!) I'm not doing it to complete a novel. I'm doing it to get a great start on Purgatory. There's a little progress bar over in the sidebar for you to see if I make my 50,000 word goal. Also directly related, (but not available in the sidebar) do you think I'll eat 50,000 pounds of nuts to match the word count? It's a definite possibility.

I'm a little stressed about the time factor, as my calendar seems to be filling up quickly (especially since I just found I have jury duty! Oi!) but I'm ready for the challenge. I'm stocked up on macaroni and cheese and ramen for dinners for the next month, so the children won't starve. And I'll buy extra underwear so I can avoid doing laundry until Dec. 1st. I'm all set!

Since you guys probably won't want to participate in NaNoWriMo with me, let's just declare November the Do Something You Love to Do Month (or DoSoYoLoDoMo for short). But here's the requirements:

1. It should be something challenging, yet rewarding
2. It should be something you've been wanting to do for awhile, but haven't had time.
3. It shouldn't be expensive.
4. It shouldn't be illegal.

Do you accept the challenge? What are you going to do this month? Make a quilt? Cook a gourmet meal? Learn how to scuba-dive? Run a marathon? Clean out the fridge? Set a goal and then tell us about it. Please! Let's accomplish something together!