November is almost upon us. (I know, I can’t believe it either.) For most people, November kicks off the holiday season, but for writers, November is also National Novel Writing Month. (NaNoWriMo)

The challenge? Write 50,000 words in a month. That’s right. Half a standard 100,000 word novel in 30 days.

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Well, just like any other writing endeavor, the key is to break it down into more manageable chunks. For some people, this can mean 1667 words a day. For others, 2000 or 2500. For still others, it can be more. (Writing sessions of upwards of 10,000 words are not uncommon in some quarters.) Ultimately, it depends on the writer.

NaNoWriMo has grown a lot since its inception in 1999, when it started with 21 people in the San Francisco Bay area. Last year, over 200,000 people from countries all over the world participated.

Since I first heard of it in 2003, I’ve known a number of people who have participated. Some of them made it to 50,000 words, others didn’t, but they all had a great time. (And the legend of the crazy things writers do during this challenge keeps growing.)

I’ve never attempted NaNoWriMo before. Over the last few years I’ve been too busy building the world of The Guardians to have any time (or spare brain cells) to devote to any other projects. Plus, with Thanksgiving, my birthday, and the various family engagements that always happen in November, I never figured I had the extra time.

This year, however, I’m going to try it.

Some people go into NaNoWriMo with a plan: an outline and fleshed-out characters. Others prefer to start with a general idea and go from there. As a reformed seat-of-my-pants writer, I’ll be going in with more of a plan.

Back in July, I had an idea for a stand-alone science fiction novel hit me while I was in the middle of repainting our upstairs. (And, no, paint fumes were not responsible for it.) Since then, I’ve been plotting the story and fleshing out characters in between writing Portal Woes and getting Bad Faith published. (This has sometimes meant that I’m scribbling ideas down at midnight so I can clear my brain and actually go to sleep.) I don’t have a full outline–I need more flexibility than that–but I have a short one with the main highlights of the story.

Cue NaNoWriMo 2011 and the double realization that I’d really, really like to start writing this story and win the challenge. The Guardians has taken up so much brain space over the last few years that I’d forgotten what it feels like to have a completely different set of main characters vying for attention.

Of course, the real trick is going to be figuring out where Portal Woes’ revision fits into the grand scheme of things. That’s not a bad thing, however. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m still working out the kinks in the first part of the book’s timeline. Switching over to a completely different project for a little while should help my subconscious solidify a few things.

Some of you reading this are already familiar with NaNoWriMo. Some of you are old pros. Some of you may have, like me, procrastinated attempting it for a multitude of reasons–all very good reasons. 😉 And some of you may procrastinate another year.

But some of you may have never heard of this wonderfully crazy challenge before. Maybe you’re sitting there now with visions of scenes and paragraphs and word counts floating through your mind. In that case, I’d suggest you head here and check it out.

My NaNoWriMo username is Sapphiregirl–feel free to look me up.

This should be an adventure. 😀