write a novel

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Hmmm….

I was really struck by this statement on the FAQ page:
If you don’t do it now, you probably never will. Novel writing is mostly a “one day” event. As in “One day, I’d like to write a novel.” Here’s the truth: 99% of us, if left to our own devices, would never make the time to write a novel.

I signed up.

When I was younger, I always excelled at creative writing assignments, and teachers said that I showed real promise. But as I got older and had to do more structured writing (especially thesis papers in high school, which always had to have one introductory paragraph with the thesis and sub-thesis, exactly three paragraphs to develop each of three premises, and one concluding paragraph), I struggled with the rigidity to the point that I grew to dislike writing. In fact, I never took a single English department writing/composition course in college, and when I got my paralegal degree, the dean had to approve an advanced level German writing course as fulfilling my English comp requirement.

Now that I’m older and have had a few years to put the horror of poor teaching behind me, I enjoy writing again (even though most of what I do is non-creative) and have been published (100% the non-creative stuff) many times.

But there’s been a novel bouncing around inside my head, on and off, for the past few years, and I’d love to commit it to paper (or at least electrons) someday.