A friend told me about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) last year. I was both intrigued and a little overwhelmed at the thought of it. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words within the month of November, which boils down to 1,667 words (about six pages) a day for 30 days straight.

I mulled the notion over for many months. In October, I decided to go for it.

The idea behind NaNoWriMo is to release one’s inner critic and savor the art of creation. In other words, to turn away from one’s internal editor/critic and simply revel in the joy of that first draft.

And I began. I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. each morning, and I wrote. I didn’t let myself check email or peruse the Internet until I had reached my minimum word count. By the time I got to work each day, I was already bleary-eyed. I attended The Night of Writing Dangerously in SF last weekend (a fundraiser and write-a-thon) and joined 200 or more other “WriMos” who were in it with me. I challenged myself.

On the morning of Thanksgiving, I reached my goal. And I’m not going to lie. I cried. Not from sadness, but from pure joy.