To NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo, that is the question

Lately, I've been mulling over the idea of participating in this year's NaNoWriMo. As you may have read in previous posts, I am one of those annoying people who talks about writing a book someday, but never does anything about it that might actually produce a book. My ninja-like procrastinating skills take the form of doing hours of research on things like publishers, eBook cover design, How-to writing books, and promoting your novel. While all of that information is important for someone who wants to publish a book, it is not in any way WRITING a book. Which is what I really should be doing.

So, that brings me to the subject of this post-- NaNoWriMo. I don't remember when I first learned about this November event, but I've been aware of it for a couple of years. If you are unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it is National Novel Writing Month. "I should do that," I've thought, but have never followed through. The excuses start piling on: "There's too much going on in November," and the ever-popular procrastinator's creed, "Maybe next year I'll have time."

Yes, November is a busy month for me at my job.  Yes, it is difficult to find chunks of writing time to get an entire rough draft finished in thirty days.  Yes, I am tired at the end of a long day at work and just want to relax.

But, here's the thing. That is always going to be true no matter what month it is. If I always use these excuses, I will never get a book written. That is the cold, hard truth of the matter. So, if I want to really write a book, I'm going to have to push through all that and get to writing.

There is something about NaNoWriMo that appeals to me. Maybe it is the crazy deadline-- 50,000 words in thirty days-- DO WHAT?!! Are you insane?

Um, wait a minute... I once wrote my Master's thesis in a ridiculously short amount of time, mainly because I fiddle-farted around and didn't start on it like I should. (Wrote the paper at the last minute and still earned my master's, thank-you-very-much!  Ha ha!) So, the NaNoWriMo timeline really isn't that much of a stretch for me.

The hard part is getting started. Today, I went to the NaNoWriMo website http://nanowrimo.org/ and created an account. I still haven't 100% committed to the idea of jumping in the NaNoWriMo waters, but I did dip my toe in today and the water didn't feel too bad.

Perhaps by posting this on my blog, I will be able to create the pressure I need to get a project like this done. I'll keep you posted on my progess. There will either be a shamefaced, "Yeah, I decided to wait 'til next year's NaNoWriMo," or a triumphant "I'm going for it!"

Stay tuned! If you've done NaNoWriMo before (or even thought about it) post a comment below to let me know what you think.