begin...begin again: the count down is on

Right on the dot--on October 1st--my inbox opened with the first notification of the year:

NaNoWriMo starts in just one month.

www.freelyeducate.com

Last year a couple of my friends voluntarily subjected themselves to this peculiar form of torture. I promised myself I would NEVER waste my time...isolate my friends...and desert my family to engage in this hopeless endeavor. Novels take years to write. I have family issues to tend to. No one I know is going to take on the laundry and the dishes and the cooking while I go off and play by myself. No! It's hard enough to make time for blogging once a week. I will NEVER sign up for NaNoWriMo. It ain't happening...

...or is it??

Remember back when I first told you about my muse?

You know--the oppositional-defiant one. The one who refuses to cooperate when I need her...and then feels free to show up uninvited whenever and wherever she darn well pleases. When I have other things on my mind. When there simply isn't time to deal with her shenanigans. That's the one.

So...a couple of days ago I was looking forward to four hours of peace and quiet, driving home after four hectic days with the kids...and guess who showed up!

"Riding shotgun," she insisted...and there she sat, right next to me all the way home. "I've been thinking," she mused (as only a muse can). "Maybe this is the year for NaNoWriMo. I have a couple of ideas for you."

My response?

www.sodahead.com

Then for four hours straight, she hammered away at me. I swear it wore me down. But, I must admit, as annoying as she can be, she did come up with some pretty good ideas.

So...long story short...I agreed to think about it. I have a month. From what I can gather, it's acceptable to work out your plot and characters, and to do your research as long as you don't begin writing the actual narrative until November 1st.

Of course, I could just pull out one of the novels that is languishing on my laptop, throw together a quick revision, and call it done (and I'm pretty sure some people will do just that...), but that kind of thing both defeats the purpose of the exercise and mocks the honor system it's based upon, doesn't it?