Why am I doing this?  I’ve done hours (days? weeks? months worth?) of genealogical research over the years – I love history, I love solving puzzles, and that research combined [...]]]> OK, are you ready for the next stage of my anti-mid-life-crisis?!?  I’ve joined NaNoWriMo!  You may know that today, November 1, starts National Novel Writing Month.

Why am I doing this?  I’ve done hours (days? weeks? months worth?) of genealogical research over the years – I love history, I love solving puzzles, and that research combined those passions.  I’ve always said I’d like to do “something” with all that research – perhaps turn it into a fictionalized narrative, something more than just a chart with names and dates.  The first steps were to attend a couple of creative writing workshops over the past month.  I absolutely loved them, and was surprised (shocked?) at how these exercises really got my pen moving.

The funny thing is, the characters I’ve been writing about in the workshops are not the people I’ve researched.  I’m not really sure who they are – some kind of alter-ego maybe?  In any case, I’m joining NaNo (as it is affectionately called) to instill the discipline of writing daily; who knows what I’ll produce (meaning, it could be crap, but disciplined crap).

I’ve committed to writing 50,000 words over the course of the month; that’s 1667 words per day on average, for those of you who don’t feel like searching thru the desk drawer for a calculator.  And, even though November is about “just do it” writing, plowing full steam ahead (editing will come in December), I promise not to pad the word count with very, very, very, very, very random ramblings.

There’s a fantastic support network of other people doing it along with me.  I won’t rat them out here, but, please, if you’re a participant, let me know!  You can follow my progress, leave encouraging notes and links to a hidden cache of chocolate on my NaNoWriMo profile page.

Curious?  NaNoWriMo has an extensive (and entertaining) FAQs page on their site.  There’s no cost to sign up, you risk only your pride .  NaNoWriMo is a non-profit organization, and they accept donations gratefully!