Gearing up for National Novel Writing Month

November is almost here. For me, that means one thing. OK, a few things. Naturally, there's Thanksgiving and the approach of Christmas and New Year's.  But more prominently, for me, it means writing. Lots and lots of writing.

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 For the fifth year in a row, I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo, because that's less of a mouthful). Each year, writers log on and commit to writing 50,000 words in the span of 30 days. Some do this all in the privacy of their homes. Others join local write-in events. I'll likely be doing a mixture of both.

I've only actually finished NaNo twice. And by finished, I mean reached 50,000 words, since that's the goal. My first NaNo project, in 2011, wasn't actually done until five months later. And then there was editing involved.  Finally, in September 2012, it became a full and finished book ... Ta da!!

Two years ago, I started a sequel to Riffs of Regret, but I've gotten stuck a few times so it's still waiting for me to finish it.

Three years ago was the second time I reached 50K words during NaNo. The project, Dropped Third Strike, has been in editing stages for a long time. That's what happens in self-publishing. But I'm still a fan of the book and hope to finish it soon.  Maybe I'll share an excerpt of it with you next week.

I've been re-reading this story lately because my project this year will be a sequel to it. I still haven't settled on a title, but I'm very excited to delve into the life of one of the side characters. I'll be updating you on my progress and sharing some of my writing process for the next few weeks.

By the way, there's probably still time to join the writing community Helene is organizing, if that's your thing.

Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month?
What kind of story would you write?