Image   Have you ever wondered if you could write a novel? Ever watch a TV show or read a book and say to yourself “I could do better than that,” or “I knew that was going to happen.” 

Well, here’s your chance. Coming up November 1st it is NaNo month. What is NaNo you ask? National Novel Writing Month. It is where thousands of people try to bang out a 50,000 word novel in 30 days during the month of November. This year so far 166,279 people have signed up and more do each day. 

50,000 words is a lot and how the hell can someone do that in one month you ask? Dedication, perseverance, lots of caffeine are just some of the things you need to get the job done. The real answer though is 1667. Thats how many words you need to write each day for 30 days to get the job done. 1667 may seem like a lot of words, but once you get writing you would be surprised how the words start to mount up.

Why would I want to put myself through this? Thats a question only you can answer. Who doesn’t want to be a writer? It’s a great job, and a great ego boost when people read what you wrote and enjoy it. Knowing that you created something  from your mind that gave other people enjoyment is the best feeling. 

I’m not saying it’s easy. This will be my 6th year trying it out and I have only completed it once. In 2011 I completed NaNo and published that book. My Mystery novel Wasted Space was my 2011 attempt at NaNo. This year I will be trying a collection of short stories about my PI Tony Gavel. I’m going to try and make 5-7 short stories about various cases Tony has done. I have the ideas ready and the general gist of each case. 

The whole idea of NaNo is to get the creative juices flowing and have fun. Write a cook book, or a coffee table book. Maybe you love reading romance and figured you could give it a shot. Do it. You’d be surprised. If anyone does decide to do it, feel free to look me up on the site. JWMETCALF is my NaNo name. Look me up.

The one thing I love about NaNo is the community and forums. You could ask almost any question on the forums about any topic and get a response within a day or two. The community is great and they come from every walk of life. Police men, doctors, lawyers, construction workers, nurses. You name it there is probably someone there that could answer your questions.

Good luck and have fun.