Funny thing about NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month kicks off today and I couldn't be happier. It's only 2 p.m. and I've already logged more than 2,300 words, which puts me a good chunk over the minimum daily requirement of 1,600-odd words to reach the goal of 50,000 for the month.

Yes, it can be a grind to churn out that many words every day for a whole month, but for me, it's pretty exciting, too. I spend a couple of weeks or more leading up to NaNoWriMo doing pre-writing work (outlining, character sketches, that kind of thing) exclusively, which I've found has two benefits. The first is obvious. As I'm furiously typing away, I have a terrific road map that keeps me from going off course.

The other benefit kind of surprised me. Because I don't do any story writing for so long, I develop an insane pent-up desire to finally write the story when Nov. 1 rolls around. And it feels wonderful. Like finally exhaling after holding your breath. These are some of my favorite writing days, and I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow.

This year I'm signed up over at www.nanowrimo.org, and I've also joined the Entangled Publishing Smackdown organized by www.SavvyAuthors.com. If you look for me over there, I'm on #TeamFEA in the #GetShorty subgroup. I'm thrilled to be part of such a super-motivated group, and I have no doubt that we're all going to reach that magical 50K number well before Nov. 30.