I’m not a novelist, and don’t really have any current plans to be one.  Songs and poems are my preferred (very short) forms. I am, however, someone who loves writing and writers and I admire the spirit of everyone who chooses to spend November slaving over a keyboard.  As such, I always get a little bit of NaNoWriMo fever when November rolls around and want to do something along with my friends and loved ones who are working so hard to churn out 50,000 words over the course of 30 days.

My big brother was a state champion runner in high school.  My favorite job was being his personal cheerleader, hurrying to certain points along the race route to shout and yell for him to get to the finish line.  I’m not sure how much I helped, but my brother told me he could always hear me encouraging him.

In that spirit, I’m going to be spending the next 30 days working along with you and cheering from the sidelines.  I’ll be posting every day this month, and I hope that some of the posts will offer encouragement, humor, and a little bit of inspiration to keep you going until December.

At the start of this crazy, difficult, amazing challenge, I wish you nothing more than to set aside perfectionism and write, write, write.  This is an opportunity to let go of your critical voices and internal editors for awhile, send them on an island getaway, and just get some material onto the page.    Set aside any judgment for now – the goal is quantity, not quality this go ’round.

Ready, Set, Go!