"Exult in your lack of a plan!"

This is the exultation given on the home page of NaNoWriMo, or "NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth", if you're not familiar with the competition. It is actually the name of a forum on the site (under the page heading "Procrastination Station" - how fiercely appropriate) where writers who have signed up for the month's event lament their complete lack of readiness for said competition. I find this funny, refreshingly honest, and encouraging. I could easily join in the fray. I have one faint little spark of an idea, which I had originally imagined as a screenplay, at the back of my mind... and I'm waiting for something better to come along. Or maybe just for fresh inspiration to breathe into the wisp of a story formed in my mind.

"No plot, no characters, simply ecstatic!" Again, I am strangely comforted by the camaraderie of others just signing on for the challenge, trusting that the muse will arrive when summoned. The challenge begins November 1, and from the website: "the goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."

This sounds like just the kind of thing my weary little muse needs to drink up. Maybe even overdose on. (What? It's art - it's good for you.) So I'll be checking in on occasion - nothing like using blogging as a tool of procrastination - and updating you on the process. And maybe musing on all the chaos in my life that necessitates a creative outlet - stat. I could not be more hopeful.