The Introvert's Party

Days to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo): 10

Are you rolling your eyes yet?  Do NaNoWriMo-ers seem like those crazy Polar Bear Plunge folk?  I'm sure we are.  I'm coming up on my third year, fourth month counting Camp NaNoWriMo, and I can hardly stand the wait (Please, NaNo don't be late!). 

No questions: Just do it!  If you're not convinced here's 10 reasons why you should.

1. You could get published. Did you know that Sara Gruen's best seller Water for Elephants was a NaNo book?  So was best seller The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  If you harbor that deep desire to call yourself a novelist, consider this list of published WriMos.
2. You make new friends.  Don't laugh.  This is a legitimate problem: I love this NY Times Article about the difficulties of making friends over 30.
3. You will learn something terrifying about yourself.  I can't tell you what it is, but it never fails to rise off the page like mist on a bog.  Your protagonist might surprise you with an off the cuff remark that hits a little close to home, a name from your past will worm its way into dialogue.  You'll want to drink.  You will drink.  But time's ticking and you need to keep writing.  By the end of November, you won't feel so screwed up.  Writing is cheaper than therapy.
4. You will form a good habit.  Even if you have no desire to write professionally, you'll be well on your way to forming a great creative habit (which takes 21 days to form supposedly).  Post NaNo, you can substitute the time spent on 1,667 words to time devoted to...  I don't know.  What do non-writers do habitually?  Sketch?  Read the trades?  Stack cups?  Spend the time journaling...
5. ... Because whatever your passion, the discipline of what Julia Cameron calls "morning pages" in her best seller The Artist's Way "teach[es] logic brain to stand aside and let artist brain play." You will learn to shut down your Inner Editor and think creatively; it's a habit, which means practice. 750words.com is basically the same idea concept but digital. 
6. You will feel the ripple effect of accomplishment (also known as the Butt-in-Chair Principle).  You'll figure out how to break down a novel into pieces, how to turn the square wheel to the finish line, you'll consider yourself a novelist! All because you kept your butt in that chair and pounded on that keyboard.  Watch out, world!  Here you come. 
7. You will stop procrastinating in every area besides writing.  You'll clean.  You'll answer every email and clean out your inbox.  You'll remember your brother's birthday and call your mom just because.  You'll start jogging.  All because you want to do anything but write.
8. You will find new appreciation for that bundle of paper and ink.  If you're like me, criticism comes easy.  Building something is hard and scary and humbling.
9. You will be supporting a great cause.  Just by doing it, talking about it, knowing about it, supporting someone else who does it.  "When you donate to the Office of Letters and Light, you help bring free creative writing programs to nearly 350,000 kids and adults in approximately 100 countries, 2,000 classrooms, 200 libraries, and 500 NaNoWriMo regions every year." ("Where your donations go" according to the NaNoWriMo site).  
10. You have a story to tell.  Do you know that?  Do you believe it?  It's true.  You have a story that only you can tell.  Try NaNoWriMo. 

Bonus:

• NaNo fills the void in your life left by baseball.  I actually started by first NaNoWriMo the day the Giants won the World Series in 2010.  My novel was about baseball.  Most of the minor characters had names pulled from the 25 man roster.  It was a terrible first draft, but it eased me off my baseball addiction.