Two months from today, at this time, I will have already written at least 2,000 words of my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel.
Yes, I am that confident.
No, I don't have a plot. Nor a title. Nor even a setting or a character. Will I? I don't know.
What I do know is that I will have my laptop open and a new word document open, waiting for our lovely ML (Municipal Liason, in NaNoWriMo world) to count us down from Halloween to ...5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - GO! And my fingers will begin typing, whether or not I have even a glimmer of an idea. I will type and something will appear.
And for the next 30 days I will follow my characters where they lead me, to that magical 50,000 words in 30 days, signalling that I am, again, a Winner. See, I've learned to not force my characters to take me somewhere in particular during NaNoWriMo. That is the duty of my inner editor, of revision. But NaNoWriMo is to get it out and see what they have to say. I can't control them - really I can't. It failed dismally the one year I tried. Yes, I still passed the finish line with about 51k words. But I never did finish that novel and I didn't like it.
So. Why now?
Because I have been officially accepted as one of the 250 writers who will be participating in the 2011 Night of Writing Dangerously in San Francisco on November 20th. I will be heading down with my writing buddy to be there in time for the Saturday night special activity, too - the founder, Chris Baty, announced that he will be leaving after this NaNoWriMo to become a full-time writer, so there is something special planned for the night before NOWD, as we in the know call it.
NOWD is fun and crazy and a seven-hour writing marathon. It is also a significant fundrasier for the Office of Letters and Light (OLL), the organization which runs NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy, and the Young Writers Program. Second only to Write Around Portland, OLL is one of my favorite non-profits to support.
So - I'm asking you to help me meet my fundraising goal of $350 for NOWD - OLL. Again, I am already a confirmed participant. And I want to raise more funds for OLL. This year I have a trusty Toyota, which I will adorn with inclement weather apparel just in case, which will carry me and my friend to San Francisco.
Consider donating even just $5. Every bit counts and every bit helps them provides lessons and incentives and programs for writers of all ages.