November is National Novel Writing Month. Something I’ve heard about but never attempted the challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month. I’m not good with numbers, but the way I calculate it, that’s 1,667 words per day, seven days a week. Okay, for you mathematicians, I’ll have ten extra words by November 30 because of rounding, so I’ll cut myself a little slack one day. Maybe take a mini-vacation to the bathroom or the refrigerator in the time it takes to write ten words. 

The purpose of NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/whatisnano) is to inspire writers to write a novel in a month. If you’re a writer, then you probably know of NaNoWriMo, and you’re prepared with your story arc, characters, and conflicts waiting in your mind—or on paper—to come to life as you write away during the next thirty days. Unfortunately, I was reminded of the writing challenge only last Friday, so I’ve had little time to plan. 

Perhaps this is a good thing. I’ve always wanted to write a love story. Not a tragically sad, Nicholas Sparks love story, but one where the two lovers actually live and prosper in happiness and joy—a concept Sparks doesn’t seem to understand. Love stories can be interesting and entertaining without tragic endings. There’ll be conflict and tears; but I’ll write in lots of laughter too. That’s what makes my heart zing. I’ve shed my share of tears. Now, I want to laugh and be happy–at least most of the time. 

This week I encourage you to write with me. If you can’t write 1,667 words per day, then decide how many you can write and commit to that number of words each day. Remember we are not editing these words; we are just writing, getting words on paper or screen. Read the few rules of NaNoWriMo on their website and follow them: NO EDITING ALLOWED! Each week I’ll give you my completed word count. 

Take the writing challenge with me. My daily goal is 1667 words—less ten words on the fifteenth day; something to look forward to midway. Leave a comment for me if you accept this challenge to write the story you’ve wanted to tell for years. I would love to hear about your progress each week. Even if our words never make it to a published book, we will have told our stories. This post contains 462 words and took ten minutes to write, so 1000 words per day is possible for most anyone. If you have doubts, you aren’t alone, I have doubts too. But damn it, if we don’t try, we’ll never know whether we can do it. I have to try. 

Take the challenge: Set your daily writing goal and make the commitment—Write Now!