write a book

... but I rarely write. I type inane blogs and I make posts on this website and other things of that nature, but I rarely, rarely sit down and craft any fiction, or anything substantive. I write essays for class, but the effort that goes into those, too, is minimal.

Why am I so afraid to write? I would like to trace it back to an awful experience I had in my fiction workshop class last year, but I know the criticism there doesn’t bother me. Maybe - and I think this is a bit closer to the mark - maybe I don’t feel I’m well equipped. I am an amazing observer: I can sit and watch people, I collect facts, I read quickly and widely and in depth, I engage random people in conversation just to hear them think, and I sit alone sometimes and digest all of this. I love watching the world turn, and I think maybe I don’t feel as if I’ve conglomerated enough to write knowledgably.

I need to make myself sit down and write, or I’ll never do it.

Is anyone here interested in doing NaNoWriMo this November? Has anyone done it before? I’ve participated every year, but I never seem to get to the point where I start actually writing a novel…