No, the post title isn’t a relic left over from the days of Mork and Mindy. How many readers are old enough to remember that show? Robin Williams was young at the time. He was Mork from Ork.

NaNoWriMo is an abbreviation for NAtional NOvel WRiting MOnth. Participants write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November to be a winner. The good part is that the novel doesn’t have to be good. Revision comes later, much later. My novel from last year is still a work-in-progress.

The difference between writing last year and writing this year is that I’m better prepared. Last year I had a good crime but had to make up the rest as I went along. You know how students have a tendency to add nonsense to essays and research papers to meet a word or page count? That was my novel. The first revision fell below the 50,000 words when I took out fluff.

This year I actually have a plan – not in every detail but enough to know that when it’s finished, the novel will have a much higher word count than required.

Fifty thousand words in thirty days works out to writing 1,666 words a day. The count doesn’t sound like much the first couple of days, but as the month progresses and resolve fades, it is formidable. Yet, I hang on to the mantra, “It doesn’t have to be good!”

Anne Lamott and some other published authors refer to to it as a “shitty first draft.” Considering that I’ve written two blog posts on dung, “shitty first draft” resonates with me. I can do this!