5,000 Words in the Hole

        My students (some of them) think I'm crazy. Some of them are excited--they can't wait. And some are planning on using a reeeealy big font, along with using series of "very very very very very very verys" and "really really really really really really reallys" (they think I won't notice)... even though I've told them over and over it's not the number of pages that matter but instead, the word count.

       My middle-schoolers are going to do NaNoWriMo. They're lucky. They can make their own goal (not gonna happen, since many of them will choose 0 as their goal). They're not saddled with the monstrous 50,000-word mountain to scale. (I've set a 5,000-word goal for them, hoping it's challenging but also attainable.)

      I've told my classes, "You might start with a kernel of an idea, and then get stuck wondering What is going to happen next?  However, if your characters are fleshed-out, your characters will start telling the story. They will drive the plot for you."

     A writing friend, Kim, outed herself. She came out of the closet. She admitted on her blog that she's a closet writer, but has decided to do NaNoWriMo this year. If you're curious what she's going to be working on, go back a post or two. Her project is chilling. Seriously. Serious as a serial killer... a female serial killer.

     She wrote in her most recent post, "Fake it until you make it," and that's what you have to do when writing a novel. You have to take that leap. You have to take that step off the cliff, having faith that on the way down you'll find your wings and can start soaring.

      What are your goals in November--writing or otherwise? Ambitious minds want to know...