Heads up, suckas! It’s October 1st, which means that in 31 days NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) kicks off. For those that don’t know, NaNoWriMo is when people from all over the world agree to the participate in the psychological and emotion flagellation that results from attempting to write a 50,000 word novel entirely in the month of November. Yes, that’s right — 50,000 words, 30 days, with Thanksgiving showing up in near the crunch point.
I’ve done it three times — which I suppose is a sad comment on the general emptiness of my social schedule — and it’s thoroughly invigorating. Also, horrendously tortuous. It’s sort of like what I would imagine sex with Angelina Jolie to be like. A fair amount of, “Oooh, baby,” mixed in with an unnecessary amount of, “Ouch! Stopping sticking that in there.”
Wow, my analogies are awesome.
In any event, I’m going to do it this year, because I hate myself. Also, it gives me an excuse to consume an ungodly amount of caffeine (MMmmmmm… Jolt cola mixed with No-Doze…). It is extremely painful — as all creative writing is — but I think it’s well worth it. At the end of November you can say you’ve written a novel, which is something a great number of people talk about doing but never do. More over, it’s something a great number of people should be doing, because I think a lot of people have interesting stories to tell. Also, why the hell not?! Come December 1st what else are you going to have to show for November? Five extra pounds of turkey and mashed potatoes? OR five extra pounds of turkey and mashed potatoes and a 50,000 word novel? Exactly.
I don’t want to publicly reveal what my awesome book will be about, but I will say with absolute certainty that it does not involve pirates. Or necrophilia. I’m leaving those two free in case Jackie decides to join in this year. But I will say that it will indubitably be absolutely god-awfully ass-smashingly not too shabby.
Tags: Writing