I’ve never considered myself — for good reason — by any stretch of the imagination, to be an author. But I have been asked, by several people, If I’d ever thought about writing a book.
I’ve heard it said that everyone’s got a novel in them, just waiting to come out. Well, I can tell you right now, that I don’t. But if I did, this month would have been the time to get started on it.
November is National Novel Writing Month. To those in the know, it’s referred to as “NaNoWriMo.”
This is an annual event in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in November. The activity was founded in 1999 by Chris Baty and a group of friends in the Northern California Bay Area. Since then, it’s grown to become a world-wide occurrence — with hundreds of thousands of participants.
The idea is that starting after midnight on November 1, writers begin drafting a new novel (or a fresh rewrite of an old one) and attempt to finish by the end of the month.
The challenge ends at 11:59 pm on November 30. Anyone who completes it is considered a winner.
Winners are given digital banners and certificates to display, if they choose — and winners T-shirts can be purchased. But I guess the real “prize” is that if you finish it, you’ll have a draft of that novel that’s in you.
Maybe I’ll think about entering next year — who knows, there may be true literary greatness lurking inside of me…..
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