Got a Novel?

I know I'm not the only one among my friends who has a book in his head but keeps finding five or six or a skadillion reasons to save the book writing for another day or year. Maybe it's something in the air, but November 2009 sounded just about right time (not too vernal, not too autumnal) to find out if I'm actually a novelist or whether I'm just a creepy little voyeur writing down people's tics on the subway. Not that these are mutually exclusive possibilities. Why November, you ask? Because November is National Novel Writing Month, which means that if you join me in this endeavor you'll also be joining a ton of other writers around the country who are trying to do the same thing, albeit with books that will be far inferior to your masterpiece... if you ever just get around to it. The goal is 50,000 words between November 1 and November 30, which amounts to a little less than 1667 words every day. (For a quick reference, this note is 532 words.)

All this doesn't warrant a note on facebook cross-posted to my blog, though! What the Hell is going on? Telling the unfamiliar about NaNoWriMo warrants a posted link at best. And if I just wanted to rally my friends who might maybe perhaps be interested, I'd do just that and maybe send a group e-mail. And on November 4th I'd be too tired to write. On November 12th I'd be too sad. November 23rd I wouldn't feel creative. Et cetera ad nauseum and all the other reasons writers give themselves to avoid the responsibility to play God.

No way. I am going to write this novel. So let's make this interesting.

If you want to participate, and you live in the New York area, I'm starting a pool. $300 per person. Everyone participating who gets to 50,000 words gets their money back AND we split whatever's left in the pot from whomever didn't finish. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare or Stephanie Meyer. Shit, my novel is probably going to run long, so I'll say right out that you don't even have to finish. You have to reach 50,000 words. In the worst case scenario everyone finishes and walks away with a novel. In the best case scenario, I split a huge pay day with you (cf. above re: I am going to write this novel)

If you're like me, that number made you wince. $300 is a Playstation 3, a 32GB iPhone, or enough pizza to provoke a lard-induced haze that will help you forget that you didn't nut up to being a novelist for yet another year. The number is supposed to intimidate you. It's supposed to seem too expensive. It's supposed to be an amount of money that's hard to lose. That's why I chose that number. It's not a funny amount of money to lose, and it's a pretty exciting amount to win, even if you have to split it with someone.

If you live somewhere else and want in, lemme know, and we'll try to figure something out.

Anyone else want to write a book?