Nanowrimo Approaches!

And here I am, wasting time looking at blogs. -_-U

For those of you who don't know, Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is a world-wide novel writing event. The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month, which totals to around 1,667 words per day. Each person signs up on the website, joins their local chapter, and sets to begin with feverish writing at midnight November 1st.

Now, some people outline, draw up character profiles, the works. Last year I began with the beginnings of a story I had scrawled when I should have been paying attention to Chemistry (sorry Mr. Sealey), and a handful of characters. That's it. No treasure map of a plotline, no characters waiting in the wings, not even a real setting. I didn't even really know where I was going with it.In fact, it wasn't until about halfway through that I actually knew why all of these kids were being gathered together in the back of a hippie van, only that they were, and it was important. I didn't have a means to reach that ultimate goal until I turned the 40-something woman into a hyper-intelligent 14-year-old.

The funny thing about writing, though: it doesn't really matter if you don't know where you're going, because your characters do. Peshmerga wouldn't have nearly reached the 50,000 mark without Garret and a crafty use of a reverse deus ex machina (Psh, mythical beings solving problems. Much more interesting when they cause said problems).

I guess what I'm saying is that I encourage everyone with even a fleeting interest in writing to go for the gold, the prizes (last year was a free copy of your book through CreateSpace!), the NanoGlory.

So get those plot bunnies running, we have a novel to write!