One Month of Purpose

This is the start of a month of being purposeful about blogging. As many of you know, my time on the computer with you ebbs and flows with the demands of my daily life at home and around town. Laundry calls, as do visits to my grandmother, PTO responsibilities, bread that longs to be baked, play groups waiting to be organized. Time passes and I don't visit this site. But other times, the stars do align and I make time for this journal of sorts, this way for me to keep in touch with old and new friends, to trade ideas and learn new things.

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My friend Edward has been trying to convince me to join him this month in NaNoWriMo. What is that, you ask? Edward responds:

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"Noveling? THAT'S not a word.

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I know. But I didn't make it up. A guy named Chris Baty did, and I'm glad he did. I have

enjoyed participating in the National Novel Writing Month, which comes along each

November, and I wanted to let you know about it--some of you again, some of you for the

first time).

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I wasn't a novelist until I'd written a novel. I had ideas but had never followed through to

completion. I finally did it, though, with the aid of the NaNoWriMo

(http://www.nanowrimo.org/), which is a terrible acronym for a pretty groovy project. The

idea is that chasing after good work is not the same as simply writing, whether it's good or

not.

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Participating in the National Novel Writing Month means writing 50 thousand words, good,

bad and ugly. That's the sole criterion."

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And yes, I did consider it. I did. But the idea of 1,667 words every day, in a coherent, cohesive format is a tad bit, well, intimidating. I don't think I have a novel inside me. A craft book, maybe. A book on our process of becoming country folk? Yes, definitely. A novel, not really. But in the spirit of joining Edward on his journey, I have committed to blogging every day for the month of November.

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Yes, I did it. I just typed every-day-in-November. I'm not sure there are many things I do EVERY day, besides brush my teeth and hug my kids, but I'm willing to give it a try. And you? Do you have a novel in you? Do you think you have it in you to do daily blogging? Or is it going to be something different for you? Maybe you'll exercise every day for the month. Or floss, that's always a good one.

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What is it going to be? Hmmm. Do let us know.