NaNoWrMo

What do the following numbers have in common: 1, 30, 720, and 50,000? Give up? Well, these all have to do with my latest obsession. My next big event is coming in November, and, no, it isn't another marathon (IT Band took care of that one). No, my next "marathon" is the NaNoWrMo (aka the National Novel Writing Month event). That's right. One Novel -- one month -- 30 days -- 720 hours -- 50,000 words. It's a pretty cool idea, really. In one month you write an entire novel (no need to obssess over quality here), and the motivation is to get it done before midnight on the 30th. Sounds cool, doesn't it?

Actually, there is more to this than just a crazy idea. I've always wanted to write. I write short stories and have all of these stories and characters in my head. My problem has always been actually doing it. I guess that's why I never made a real go of it as an author, not enough balls. In my dream world, I get paid to write. People actually want to read what I write, and anxiously await to hear my thoughts on topics. In college I almost tried. I guess in this case, my blue-collar work ethic and my gotta-pay-the-bills logical brain said that getting a job teaching made a whole lot more sense than taking a shot in the dark as being a writer. I suppose that puts me in the same lot as most everyone else. Most of us are too chicken to really take a shot at our dreams, to take a risk to see what might happen. Maybe it's fear of failure. Maybe it's the fear of coming back with our tail between our legs that makes us stay at home and be safe. Whatever it is, I'm fighting back now. The marathon proved to me that I'm not too old to change, too old to try something new.

So, I'm going to give it a shot. I expect that what comes out of the event will be slightly less than shit, but that is not the point. The point here is to just do it. It doesn't matter anymore if I write the great American novel. It doesn't matter that critics aren't going to hail my arrival on the literary stage. It doesn't matter that people will ever actually read my stuff. No, what matters now is that a try to accomplish something that I've never done before. That's enough, I think.