Hi all!

    Again I apologize for my absence but that little thing called life keeps getting in my way. Like the fact that our incredibly full house is being re-carpeted, painted outside, getting a new garage door, and a few other things. Timing couldn’t be WORSE, the hubby’s job is giving him grief for some personal illness issues, my work comp issue is flaring and I’m playing a game of hurry up and wait with the company and lawyers. But the timing though isn’t ours to call – ah the joys of renting. But I can tell you that I am working on 20 new articles as I attempt to accomplish some of my personal goals. And speaking of personal goals, this month is National Novel Writing Month – 30 days, 50,000 words; sponsored by NaNoWriMo Organization. Which I have participated in (officially or non-officially for the last 6 years) and I will be participating again this year.

    You can read all about NaNoWriMo at their website. They also sponsor Script Frenzy in April (30 days, 100 pages). Also in Nov along with NaNoWriMo they sponsor the Young Writers Program and A Night of Writing Dangerously. Admittedly 50,000 words is a lot in a single month and doesn’t actually equal a full length novel but they expect that you will continue to work on, write and tweak whatever you get down that month. (Same goes for Script Frenzy average script length is 120 pages; 1 page = 1 minute of screen time.)

    If you are having trouble writing, getting started, or just moving on this is a great motivator. Even if you don’t meet the 50,000 or choose not to participate in the full out NaNoWriMo experience. This month is a great time to focus or refocus your efforts on writing.

    Most NaNoWriMoers spend parts of October doing research and possibly making notes on the project that they intend to work on for NaNoWriMo. But there are a large part that don’t make any prep at all. It’s up to you how you handle your 50,000 words. Most of my end results have equaled stuff for “Monster Manuals” and “Other-world Encyclopedias” or incredibly rough drafts of novels that once I fully outline end up being several books worth of story. (I suffer from severe PBD; plot bunny dysfunction  also an article I’m working on.) So, this year I will be posting a Ticker Widget on this blog so that you can track my progress. Mind you I’m already behind as I spent the last two days with a sick child, but last year I had nothing written by the middle of the month and still managed to crank out 50,000.

    Best of luck to all those who are going to participate and also to those who will use the focus of this month to simply help spur themselves forward. I’ll see you on the other side.