The Freelance Writer Writes Fiction?

I want a typewriter someday.

In 8 days I will be embarking on a crazy journey. That’s right, I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year. I had heard about it before, but I had never investigated it, and I certainly never imagined attempting it.

For those of you who have never heard about this insanity before, let me explain. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. This organization has been around for at least ten years, and the event occurs every November. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. You can write notes, outlines, and character profiles before the month starts, but you cannot actually write any prose before the month starts.

I have never taken a fiction writing class, though I did take a few non-fiction courses that helped me do research for my second thesis (it was a memoir) and get my English minor. I’ve actually not written any fiction since I was in elementary school. I’ve written hundreds of pages of non-fiction and good deal a poetry but not fiction.

I did purchase and read an ebook called No Plot, No Problem! by Chris Baty, the NaNo founder. It goes through a short planning phase, that I plan on starting tomorrow, which is limited to the week before the competition. It also has guidelines and inspiration for each week of the competition. The last section of the book is dedicated to rewriting, editing and publishing your novel if you choose to do so.

As of now, I’m not really sure what I am getting myself into, but I’m excited to find out.