Yershi's Going to NaNoWriMo

So, perhaps it’s not cheating to have a nearly 8,000-word head start heading into National Novel Writing Month. At least that’s the implication I get from Nathan Bransford’s post on the topic, so I’m going to go with that feeling.

Can a book be written in thirty days?

Better yet: Can a good book be written in thirty days?

It’s possible. The first one at least seems achievable. The second one, well, there’s the real challenge, isn’t it?

I’m going to do it, though. With Yershi the Mild.

So maybe I feel a little guilty, coming into it with that 8,000-word head start. Should I? It doesn’t appear I should. NaNoWriMo’s Codes of Conduct is explicit about explicitness and not feeding the trolls and such, but they don’t say I can’t come into this with a head start. So I’m gonna.

Why?

For the challenge. For the fun. For the opportunity to kick myself in the butt and actually get Yershi the Mild into nearly-done territory by the end of the year. See, I was in this same kind of situation this time last year with “Considering How to Run,” which I decided to write and edit at least once in 2010. I did that. But it’s not gone beyond that, given that it’s crap and the first novel ought to sit on the shelf for a while anyway while the second novel comes out and is much, much better. So that’s what I’m telling myself.

And I’ve got to confess I’m on a little bit of a writer’s high right now. Reading Terry Pratchett novels will do that to you.