I've participated in NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month) since 2004, and I've been ML (Municipal Liaison, or the person ostensibly running the region) for three years. I'm hoping for my sixth win at the end of November, so that means I've talked about this project for a long time now. But every month at the writing meeting, there are newbies who don't know what NaNo is, which always surprises me (and shouldn't by now, since I've been going to that group for what, four years?). Sometimes I get the "wow, I could never do that" speech, or the "You must be really crazycreative to do that", or the "I don't have the time to do it."

Well, you can do it, I am relatively creative in the grand scheme of things (and don't get me wrong, there are lots of times when I think I'm insane for doing it), and most of the time, I don't have the time to be doing NaNo, yet I just keep doing it. Forsooth, you say, but why?

I love to write, no matter how much of a hiatus I take between writing sessions. When you find that moment when the story comes together without you realizing it, when you notice that you planted the seeds for that climactic moment back at the beginning of the story when you didn't have a clue about how it was going to end, but somehow your subconscious did, when you finally get to write "the end," that's what writing is about for me. Of course, I've only written "the end" on one of my NaNovels so far, but you get my point.

So why not just do it by myself? Why subject myself to the deadline of NaNo when I could just write whenever I wanted, however much I wanted?

Because apparently my muse loves a deadline and will put forth massive amounts of juicy plotlines only when under duress. Also--there are friends I have today that I would not have had I not gone to a write-in with other StL NaNo'ers. There is nothing else like sitting in a caf<é> with a bunch of other writers, trying to write the most words in ten minutes, yelling out that you need a guy's name and getting a dozen different answers, from the absurd to the just-right, and then hitting your word count quota for the day, then allowing yourself a gooey butter danish...yes, that is pretty much perfect.

The thought of knowing that 100,000+ folks all around the world are doing the exact same thing you are, trying to figure out plot twists just like you are, puzzling over the perfect setting just like you are, is something amazing.

One day I hope something that I start during NaNo ends up being published. That means I have to actually finish one of them sometime, and maybe this year is that time. Maybe not. All I know is that I have to get that feeling when the words flow and I don't even have to think about typing, because the story has to get out. It's a huge rush, and knowing there are other folks laboring under the same deadline just to get that same kick makes it even better.

If you've got any questions about NaNoWriMo, feel free to ask. It's the highlight of my year, no matter the sleep deprivation or the frustration when a character refuses to fit into your storyline for them. But be careful, or you may end up in my novel.

Write on, all.