NaNoWriMo

So, I've decided to write a novel. 

Seriously.

My cousin Catie gave me the idea because apparently November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.  Anyway, she posted on facebook that she had signed up to do it and had the workings of a story. I had no clue what NaNoWriMo even was (good thing we have google) but once I found out I totally loved the idea. 

The gist of it is that you try to write every day in the month of November. You just write and write and write and by the end of the month you should have a novel. The website has tips and forums and a word-count-o-meter (something like that) and basically just motivates you to get from start to finish in 30 days. 

I had absolutely no idea what I would write about, but I really wanted to do it (I've always wanted to write a novel) so I created a profile and started up my count-o-meter.  I started writing about nothing really, and then it kind of turned into something, and then something else, and now I actually have a real idea and am writing a real story. Its a like a miracle.

The thing is, I really have always wanted to write a novel. But I am such a perfectionist that I never get very far because I over edit and I tend to judge myself.  I want my work to be perfect from the start and that keeps me from ever getting to the finish.  I want whatever I write to mean something because the books I read mean so much to me. I don't want to just author cheap story lines that sell thousands of copies and are made into movies, but then don't really mean anything to anybody because they don't actually have much substance (cough, cough, Nicholas Sparks, cough).  

But, having said that, you can see that that is part of my problem. Maybe I need to just sit down and spit out a story, whether it means something or not so that I can just say that I have written a novel. You have to start somewhere, right? It doesn't have to be a masterpiece. 

And, lets face it, I'm not Charlotte Bronte, nor will I ever be. But I want to do this. And I'm going to do it. So, I am posting this on my blog, against my better judging type A personality, because I want to hold myself accountable. 

The goal is 50,000 words and a completed novel by November 30. I'm at 3,923. Only 46,077 more to go!