A New Blog for a New NaNo

NaNoWriMo is coming once again, and I think this marks a good time to start a new blog. Perhaps, for once, I'll actually keep up with it.


First of all, what is NaNoWriMo? Well, if you don't know what NaNo is, then chances are you aren't reading my blog. But for those few poor souls who have wandered in here by accident, I will explain. NaNoWriMo is a shortened version of National Novel Writing Month, an annual event where writers from all over the world spend November trying to write 50,000 words. Each.


In the coming month much will happen. We will laugh, we will cry, we will neglect sleep and proper nutrition. Some of us will come out on the other end with a very rough draft of a short novel. Others will come out with a ruptured spleen. Don't ask me how that happens, I don't know. But it's inevitable.


In gearing up for NaNo, I'm getting more wordy in my writing. Remember, the goal here is to write 50,000 words, but nothing says they have to be good words. In previous years I've included the complete lyrics of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" (over two thousand words), and several pages of apologies for how terrible my story turned out. Fast and cheap wordcount boosts. One day, I may even forgive myself for them, but that day has not yet come.


To be clear, I generally don't edit my blog posts. They tend to be stream of consciousness. Which may provide some unique insight into my consciousness, but don't worry, I promise to skip the Nightmare Fuel. Mostly. I can't help it if the crazy leaks out sometimes.


My blog posts will also have a mostly conversational tone. I type like I talk, unless I'm writing a story, in which case I type like I'd talk if I lived in Middle Earth but had spent my childhood being raised by wargs. This style of writing has gotten me plenty of solid 'B's on papers written at 3am the morning they were due, and I don't plan to abandon it any time soon.


I do promise decent spelling. And I'll try to keep my grammar in check (I say as I start a sentence with "and"). I dislike huge blocks of text, so you can be sure I'll include breaks between paragraphs at some point. What I'm saying is, I'll try to make reading my blog a not-terrible experience, and I hope you'll agree that I often succeed.


So, NaNo begins on November 1st. I'm busier this year than I have been during any of my previous NaNo attempts, but with two "wins" under my belt I'm confident in my ability to get stuff done. Now, let us hope that I don't forget this blog entirely by tomorrow morning.