Attempting Big Things

One lesson I’ve tried very hard to impart to The Daughter Of The House is that you get a great deal more done in life if you try hard – or even impossible – things and fail, than if you try a lesser goal and succeed.

I love to write. I’ve written two novels (the last one eight years ago) and around twenty technical or training manuals for clients as big as Chevron and Tenet, and as small as local companies with a staff of fifty. Back in March, a friend told me about NaNoWriMo. The short version is that tens of thousands of people are writing books this November, where “book” is defined as 50,000 words. There will be many winners, because to win, all you have to do is finish. I had an idea for a new book, and this time I decided I would actually try to get published. So I’ve made notes and outlines, generally figured out where the story is going to go, and gotten all geared up to write at least 1,667 words per day this month.

But I keep getting sicker – to the point that I’ve had to drop out of the Gather.com Election 2006 series – and I’m not getting even my paid work done at this point. (Update: the doctor says it’s something autoimmune and he’s testing me for lupus.) However – the idea of attempting big things still holds true, and I’m going to do what I can now, and hope that I can catch up later in the month when I will presumably be feeling better. You can see my progress in the sidebar.

Want a challenge? It’s not too late to sign up! 1,667 words per day sounds like a lot, but it’s only about 7 typed double spaced pages. If you’ve ever thought about writing a book, there’s no time like today to get started.

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