It’s almost that time again. November 1 marks the start of the tenth annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for the hip). Every year, increasingly large numbers of literary speed-freaks set their keyboards ablaze by writing a 50,000-word novel in thirty days. The whole NaNo notion stands normal writing convention on its ear, with sheer word volume trumping silly stuff like character development and dramatic arcs. This isn’t for sissies. It’s fast, it’s brutal, it takes no prisoners. I am so there.

I “won” NaNoWriMo back in 2005, which sounds impressive until you learn that anyone who finishes their 50k words is deemed a “winner”.  Most of that month is buried in a repressed back room in a dark corner of my consciousness, but I know I got a “real” novel idea from the process, which I then spent another year turning into a rambling 500+ page manuscript before stuffing it into a drawer. Thanks to NaNo, I can now use the phrase my second novel at parties, which really does sound impressive.

Face it—you’ve got about as much chance of penning a masterpiece in a month as you do of blowing kittens out of your left nostril, but that’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo. For one blessed month, you get to let go and just write stuff, lots of stuff. Screw the critics, inner and outer. Just tap them keys, baby, and don’t stop. Having trouble coming up with an idea? Just type “the” over and over again until something more interesting occurs to you. Nobody’s going to read this crap anyway.

Some writers seem able to spin off stories like they’re cruising the beach with the top down. Me, I’ve always been more of a white-knuckle, ten-and-two writer. I get there eventually, but the progress is stately and the trip isn’t always much fun. After being away from NaNo for several years, I’ve decided to give it a go again this year in the hope of remembering how to stick my head out the window and let my ears flap.

For those thirty days, I’m setting aside my current manuscript and digging deep into something entirely different. I’m on my second mystery novel, but for NaNo I’ve decided to go with Literary Fiction. Before my main characters have been young, aimless men in their 20’s and 30’s. For November’s work, I’m casting a middle-age protagonist in the starring role. It’ll be quieter, perhaps weirder, and probably nobody will die. That’s all I want to know about it until November 1. I’m just sitting back and shrugging at my muse with a simple “surprise me.”

If you’re planning on participating this year, visit the NaNoWriMo website and sign up to be one of my writing buddies (my username is “spotlope”). If you’ve never tried speed-writing before, come on in and give it a go. You’re afraid, you say? You should be. But think of that stack of paper you’ll have when you’re done!