Happy NaNoWriMo! (No Judgment.)

Several years ago at a writing workshop, I heard about NaNoWriMo…National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each November.  November was already my favorite month…fall, my birthday, beards, and now writing, too!  The concept is really simple:  "300,000 writers; 30 days; 50,000 words."  

I love to write, but spilling out words onto the blank page* is a daunting task, and too often I start editing myself even before I begin to write.  I have files and files of ideas, sentences, and half stories on my computer because I wasn’t able to bring them to life…or at least, not yet.  Even if I don’t show my work to anyone, sometimes just knowing it’s “out there” is taking a big risk.  

This past summer in France, I had a written exchange with one of my English students about art.  I said I love art, but I’m not a good artist.  She responded that it’s not right for me to say that, because it’s not possible to judge art.  So in the spirit of not judging (even myself) I’ve decided to participate in this year’s NaNoWriMo…because I can, and because it doesn’t matter if anyone else thinks what I write is good.  If you want to participate, too, it’s not too late!  Go to http://nanowrimo.org/ and sign yourself up!  I’m going to cut this short, because I have to get to work…I’ve got 1,666.67 words to write today if I’m going to stay on track.

*"You better worry," says the blank white page.  

"I have nothing.  Everything depends on you."

-Gina Briefs-Elgin, 

"Happiness and the Blank Page:  Csikszentmihalyi's Flow in the Writing Classroom"