For many years I thought that book ideas arrived fully formed in authors’ heads and that writing was just the process of copying these ideas down but with added dialogue and detail.  My theories about blogging shared a similar vein of stupidity; no matter how much Antonio cajoled me to create a blog, I held off, waiting for that eureka moment where a unique, previously undocumented topic would reveal itself to me.

After ten months of maintaining a blog about very little, and along the way reading articles such as 6 Writers Who Accidentally Crapped Out Masterpieces, I have been cured of my wrong-headed ways.  I now realise that the perfect idea will never come to me, I will only get to it through continuous writing.

One of the great things about this blog is that it encourages me to do exactly that, to continue writing.  When I do write, people leave me positive comments, they hit the like button on Facebook, they print out the post and read it on the bus. When I don’t, they’re sure to mention it next time I’m in the pub.

November is National Novel Writing Month (henceforth known as NaNoWriMo) and I’m hoping that it will have the exact same peer-pressure-leads-to-productivity effect on me as this blog does.  What I already know for certain is that it has a crazy deadline (a 50,000 word novel in 30 days) and Gingell thinks I should do it (not that I’m scared of her or anything).

As usual I’ll be documenting my successes and failures right here on the blog for your own amusement.  Why not play along at home?

So far I’ve bought the book (not essential), bought the t-shirt (once again not essential) and signed up to the website (yeah, you need to do this one).  It might also be worth your while following @NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo’s creator @chrisbaty on Twitter and joining their group on Facebook.

Now, you need a support group.  If, like me, you happen to reside in Stoke-on-Trent you’ll notice a somewhat glaring omission, the nearest substitutes being either Birmingham or Manchester.  I’ve picked Birmingham simply because I know the area better and I have friends that live there, although that isn’t to say I won’t be crashing other meetings and posting reviews here.  If you want to know more about the Birmingham group you can always take a look at their Facebook group.

The next Birmingham meet starts at midday this Saturday at  the Coffee Lounge.  If you’re wondering where the Coffee Lounge is, here are some simple directions; leave the train station by the other entrance (the one without the ticket office and the Burger King), look across the road.  If you’re still confused, take a little look at this Google Map.

If you find the idea of affiliating yourself with another city morally repulsive or you just don’t like paying travel expenses there is still hope. A Stokie WriMo movement is in its infancy, follow them on Twitter, join them on Facebook.  If they decide on a meeting place I shall go along and report back.

In the meantime, I’ve nabbed the very first NaNoVideo from the official site.  I thoroughly recommend it as a good way to spend a couple of minutes while you wait for the kettle to boil or whatever it is you do with your life.

chrisbaty