National Novel Writing Month

Okay, it's November 4, but that doesn't mean it's too late for you to join NaNoWriMo. That's National Novel Writing Month which started Nov. 1 and runs through the 30th.
The idea is to write like crazy and try to reach 50,000 words by the end of the month.
With all of the classes I'm teaching, I've been neglecting my novel. I spend my time grading papers or planning classes then collapse on the couch when I'm finished. Yesterday, I remembered that November means NaNoWriMo and I'd better jump into the fray. For now, I'm energized.
I succeeded at NaNoWriMo once, in 2006. That is the novel that became Trail Mix.
When some people write, they plan each scene and each detail. They have it all laid out before they begin. Not me. I know that if I try to write 50,000 words this month, many of those words will lay on the floor of the cutting room by the time I finish, but some of them will stay. Maybe even half of them. Maybe three-fouths. And if I don't write something then I'll have nothing to edit.
So I took the novel I'm currently working on and wrote down the word count yesterday -- 32,557. Anything I write above that goes into my NaNoWriMo account. Today, I wrote 1100 words so far and it's only 6:30. Of course, I'm getting ready to go to work and then I have parent/teacher conferences and then swim team for Tucker and play practice for Grace, but who knows how many words I might sneak in.
Writing on NaNoWriMo isn't as lonely as writing alone. You can have friends and keep track of how they are doing. There's a bar across the top of the sign on that slowly turns blue as each writer completes more words. It's fun to watch the progression and hope for an all blue bar at the end.
Even if I don't write 50,000 words, hopefully, I'll write more than I would have if I hadn't joined. And, hopefully, they will be better thought out than this blog post.
Let me know if you join and I'll add you to my friends' list on NaNoWrimo.
To join, go to NaNoWriMo.org