I may not be ready for this.

Confession time: I have never participated in NaNoWriMo.

There’s no singular reason I have never taken on the task of writing a complete novel in the month of November. It’s just the way things worked out for me. Early on, before I was published, I was developing a regular routine and NaNo wasn’t part of that. More recently, I’ve been in the middle of editing or redrafting projects so the timing was off.

But this year it all changes.

Why is this year so different? Is it because I found a NaNo community that I think will inspire me? Is it because I really want the experience of throwing myself into my art for a month?

Is is because I have a deadline coming up and I am contractually obligated to finish a draft by December?

It’s all those things.

So once the trick-or-treaters are done this evening, I am taking the left-over candy and going into full writer mode. If anyone needs to talk to me about anything else, it’ll have to wait for December.

Good luck fellow writers. Happy writing!

If you too are jumping into the NaNoWriMo pool, find me online at nanowrimo.org/participants/amlabonte.