I think everyone has at least one novel inside of them, just like everyone has the potential to run a marathon at least once in their lives. I started writing a novel last year, before coming to China, but then I stopped working on it. It didn’t seem relevant to my new life. That earlier novel was written the old fashioned way, with hours spent wrestling unruly sentences into perfection. Looking back on it, I realize that I let my inner-editor have too much control. I couldn’t produce the volume I wanted because I was too concerned with quality.

I wanted to start writing again, and I wanted to choose a subject that would address the way I am feeling now, as a stranger in a strange land, but my ideas had not taken shape enough for me to put them on a page. Then Josh discovered nanowrimo.org, and he suggested I check it out.

Nanowrimo.org is the official website of National Novel Writing Month. Josh found out about the program on the Humanaught’s website, so I owe thanks to Ryan for it. Here is how it works - everyone who signs up for National Novel Writing Month has exactly 30 days to write a novel. That breaks down to about 1,667 words a day, every single day for the month of November. At the end of the month we will upload our novels onto the nanowrimo website for the official word count. Then we congratulate ourselves for completing our first novels.

The long work of editing and re-writing can happen in the months that follow. The work of researching places and events has to wait for later drafts, too. This is an exercise in quantity, not quality, so poetic phrases and historical accuracy are second and third in importance. The critical thing is just writing, and writing every day.

So far, I am a little bit ahead of my suggested pace. I have written over 27,000 words, and the month is not even half over.

Forgive me if I fall behind on peer-see entries for the rest of the month. I have a novel to write.