POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

NANOWRIMO

By Nandy Ekle

We’re here again. The leaves are turning beautiful colors. The birds have flown away to warmer climates. The creepy crawlies are coming in the house looking for shelter. And the stores have stocked their shelves with festive browns, oranges, reds and greens. And we know what that means.

Yep, National Novel Writing Month is upon us. Every November 1 through 30 we are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel. There’s only one rule: don’t write any of the story before November 1. You are allowed to research, outline, characterize, plan, story board, timeline, whatever preparations you need to get your NANO ready. But no words can be written before midnight going into November first.

Go to the website and register. You’ll need to set up your profile page. Then you enter the working title of your new novel. You write your words every day, then enter the word count. A little graph shows your progress. You can look up friends (I’m Nandy Ekle over there), join forums, you can even get involved with local groups who have “write ins.”

I’ve not completed a nano yet, but every year I sign up and do my best. I’ll do it again this year. I have my plot, my characters, my goals, everything but the specifics, which come to me as I write it. Look me up and we’ll get through this together.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.