Yep, that banner across the lightbulb says “Participant” because that’s what I’m going to be, come 1 November 2010.  The National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo to its closer friends, is a project out of the Office of Letters and Light.  I can’t hope to summarise it better than they have themselves, so from their website:

“What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month’s time.

Who: You! We can’t do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let’s write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.”

I have friends who have done this and I watched from the sidelines, wishing I had the skill and ability to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  I was missing the point.  Published or not, this program encourages people to write…which is the only way to become a novelist, blogger, or just interesting person to have at parties.  It’s good for my creativity, it’s good for my ability to meet a deadline (which currently is nil), and it’s good for meeting other people just as insane and fascinated by writing as I am.  Should be a good time…I’ll check in here with my progress so stay tuned.

While you’re waiting, head over to NaNoWriMo (gosh, I feel like an insider calling it that!) and check out the other programs on offer with the Office of Letters and Light, like the Young Writers Program, the Great NaNoWriMo Book Drive, the 2010 Night of Writing Dangerously (held in one of my fav cities on the planet, San Francisco), and April’s Script Frenzy.

Cross your fingers…November’s going to be a crazy month here at Well Read.