NaNoWriMo

It might sound like some secret code that you have yet to be filled in on in the world of blogs, but it's not. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and it's a yearly even that has grown exponentially since it's roots in 1999. The goal for its participants is to write a 50,000 word novel (more like a novella) for the month of the November.

And this year, I've decided I'm going to do it.

It's going to be a challenge; not to do, but to schedule because I have so much going on but it's something that I want to do. I wonder what it will feel like to complete a goal of this magnitude? Will I discover something about myself that I never knew?

I won't be doing this alone, however. I have a few friends who are interested in the challenge much like I am. I've added two as my buddies (but hope to add more). Also joining me, will be my nine year old son.

NaNo has a youth division that he'll be joining. We can set his goal for any number of words. Together, we've decided that 3,000 words for the month November for my 4th grader will challenge him without frustrating him. My son typically has the same problem that I do: he wants things perfect the first time around. I've gotten to the point where I'll edit my work, but he's not there yet. When we edit his compositions, he gets frustrated that there are mistakes; there are rewrites.

I recently went to my favorite author's website and read from her notes that it took anywhere from six to twelve edits before her books were published. I read that to my son to show him that even the professionals don't get it right the first time.

Hopefully, by December 1st, both my son and myself will have discovered something about our writing abilities, our perseverance and ourselves.