For some reason, I have begun contemplating NaNoWriMo once more. Maybe it has become something automatic in September, like a craving for apple cider or fresh school supplies. Some of it is nostalgia (oh, the late nights and early mornings, the million and two rotations of Chutes Too Narrow, the one section I wrote while drinking straight whiskey!) and some of it is the same excitement about the creative process that got me interested in the first place, the making of art just for art's sake, the destruction of that mean, niggling voice that makes one bad paragraph question my entire ability to write. (It took me at least four revisions to get the end of that sentence just right, by the way.)

It's true that last year I only got a quarter of the way through before giving up. But I still got something out of it -- two somethings, at least: 1) I now know I am physically and mentally capable of writing at least 1,667 words in one day and 2) those 1,667 words will sometimes manage to be okay.

I challenge anyone who as even for one split second thought about writing a novel to seriously consider at least doing the first week of NaNoWriMo. Also anyone who has ever questioned their creative ability. And anyone who likes Excel. (Because there is this really satisfying spreadsheet you can download that shows a bunch of different graphs of your progress as you go -- so gratifying!)

Also anyone reading this website right now. That means you!