Every year, once a year, writers from around the world participate in an event called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The rules of the event are simple: Writers start writing a novel on November 1, and must finish at least 50,000 words by midnight of November 30. You must start from scratch - no advance writing. You must not cheat - you can’t copy and paste the same word 50,000 times. The goal is to have fun and write the novel you’ve always wanted to write but never had the time. There is no prize if you reach the finish line, only bragging rights and a sense of accomplishment. Many writers fail; some succeed.

This year, Boomzap and Casual Review have decided to make things interesting. I am the only full-time writer on their staff, and I have been joining NaNoWriMo on my own since 2006 (I reached 50,000 words in 2006, and failed miserably in 2007). When I told them I would be joining this year, and therefore would be disappearing once a day to reach the 1,667 daily word limit, instead of chiding me for using valuable word time to write a novel, they are encouraging me! So much so, in fact, that they have asked me to post a weekly update here on my progress, for the whole world to read! I have also been told I will receive much love if I succeed, and much ridicule if I fail (all in good sport, of course).

So here I am, two hours before midnight of November 1 (my local time), nervous about writing a novel, much more nervous that my colleagues at Boomzap and Casual Review are watching, and somewhere between terrified and nearing cardiac arrest that the rest of the Internet is watching too. And while the other brave writers of NaNoWriMo are busy creating plot outlines and character backgrounds, all I have is a basic idea of what I want my first scene to be like. But after that, who knows? For now, I will let my characters tell me where to go.

I will post here at the end of every week of November how many words I’ve already written. And you can keep track, too, through my official NaNoWriMo profile. Wish me luck!