Hello one and all! Apologies for the recent silence. Unfortunately a slight shift in job role has meant an increase in travel, coupled with trying to fit in time with my recently distant boy spelling a serious decrease in free time. I’m not complaining, all has been enjoyable, however I might have to look into using SpinVox or some other moblog tool if I am serious about committing to this site. Which by the way, I am.

Lack of free time has also prevented me from getting involved in national novel writing month, or NaNoWriMo as commonly refereed. Several friends and a number of peeps I follow online have thrown themselves into the challenge with much gusto. The challenge is in its 10^th year, and requires participants to write 50,000 words in the month of November.

This year over 118,500 authors and jumped aboard, with over 4,300 having hit the 50k word mark thus far! Which is no mean feat, a lot of the participants that I’m aware of are free lancers or students, those with full time employment are faced with penning approx 2,000 words a night, dedication crucial! Copy has to be original and genuine, as online tools scan submissions to make sure individuals have not cheated by inserting repetitious or nonsense words. If you do hit the 50,000 mark by Nov 30^th you are rewarded with a custom built blog badge, recognising your achievements.

It is important however, to understand that NaNoWriMo is less about generating high brow literature greats and more about creating a sense of community and encouraging individuals to exercise their creative muscles.

Recently primed from a creative writing course and brimming with ideas and inspiration, I’ll be there next year no question!