blogger, expat, novelist…

I’m proud to announce that I am an official winner of NaNoWriMo 2006. That means that I wrote a 50,000 word novel entirely within the month of November. As a prize, I got this nifty ‘winner’ graphic, so of course I had to make a blog post to show it off.

Before this experience, I really never felt compelled to try my hand at novel-writing, despite my tireless dedication to dilettantism. But something about this project drew me in. Part of it was the appeal of trying a new creative activity. Part of it was the attainable but challenging short-term goal. But most of it was the method.

I’m a big fan of using the ‘quantity over quality’ method of breaking through artistic/creative blocks. When you have to finish a whole novel within a month, you don’t have time to stop and obsess over individual sentence structures or style nuances. You just have to keep writing. And inevitably, at least some of what you write turns out to be pretty good. And that’s exciting.

So I’m not saying I’ve written the next international best-seller or anything. In fact, I’m not even sure anyone else will ever read my novel. Hell, I’m not even sure I’ll ever read my novel. But if you happen to know a publisher looking for an exciting new ‘chick lit’ book to put out (about the adventures of two young American women in Italy), feel free to send her/him my way. I’ll be sure to invite you to the release party.