November is National Novel Writing Month.

No, really. It’s a thing. Look:

You’re not that surprised, are you? I mean, it’s 2018 (nearly 2019 – gasp!), and just about everything is a thing these days.

But yes, it’s a thing, with its own website, and tons of people are blogging about it, and emailing about it and just going on and on about it. I’m not really going to do that, but I will say one or two things more.

Basically, the premise is that you write a 50,000-word novel in one month. Piece of cake, right? You sign up to participate, you track your progress, you encourage other writers, they do the same for you, and on it goes.

There’s a lot about this I like, not the least of which is that it allowed me to break my several months long malaise and start Cleanup Crew #3 today.

And So for S.J. Varengo of New York, Opportunity Knocks!

[Ed. Note – First, full disclosure: that heading is a paraphrase of George Harrison’s introduction of Paul McCartney’s very first live performance of the song Yesterday. If you don’t believe me you can listen to the second volume of the Anthology (track 11) and hear for yourself.]

But truly, I am viewing this as an opportunity. My feet have been dragging since I finished Carolina. I did get one project cleared from my board, (more on that as the story develops), but for the most part, I felt unfulfilled, listless. I knew I needed to be writing. I would whine and say “I couldn’t,” but the truth of the matter is that I simply “didn’t.”

Signing up for the event allowed me to break through today and write the first 1000 words (1021 if we’re being nit-picky), comprising the prologue to the story.

And, historically, once I leap the first hurdle, (i.e. actually sitting down and beginning to work), the dam is comprised, and the deluge begins. SO we shall see what happens in the next week, (cheat week, I’m calling it), as I get a little headstart on the November goal.

But There Is Danger

Whenever one gets involved in an organized project like NaNoWriMo (I swear to God, they call it that – just look at the image above), there is the possibility that one can get so involved in the “event” that they forget they’re supposed to be writing a book. Getting lost in “the trees” that comprise the event, the writer no longer sees “the forest,” aka the novel itself.

I mention this because it’s just the sort of thing I can easily fall prey to myself. My ability to get caught up in the glitter and flash and lose sight of the grind of the job is legendary. I’m hoping that the fact that a few people out there actually follow this blog AND the fact that I’m calling myself out within its confines, helps me to avoid doing that this time.

[Ed. Note – Yes, he knows that the blog itself can easily become yet another layer of distraction and he promises he’ll try to avoid that as well.]

Final Word

Here’s the big reveal that no one saw coming: CUC #3 will be called The Terror of Tijuana.

Final Final Word

One of these days I’m going to find out who this so-called Editor is that always pops up in these posts and thump him.