NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it takes place every November. Thousands of authors, from novice to veteran, partake in this event and attempt to write 50,000 words, or more, in one month. That’s approximately 12,500 words a week or about 1700 words a day. 50,000 words is generally considered to be the average size of a novel.

I’ve been watching the NaNoWriMo community from a distance for years now and I have always admired this journey in which they all embark. I really want to be a part of it. Alas, 50,000 words is a little steep for someone who has never even written a short story, but what if I were to shrink that a bit. Say, 20,000 words (a novella). I might be able to do that. I could commit to three days a week, which comes out to approximately 1666 words per writing session (approximately three typed pages). That might be feasible for me.

I have no delusions of grandeur, mind you. I fully expect my first attempt to suck to high heaven, and there is no way anyone will ever read it other than yours truly, but it seems to me that it would be a good place to start. If anything, it will be a great learning experience and hopefully a lot of fun. I have multiple characters and plot lines floating around my head, which have been simmering on the back burner for the last few years. The question now is, which one of them do I run with?

I’ll keep you posted as the event starts to rev up.