“Slow down, now,” you say, “a novel in a month?  It can’t be done!”  Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s what I said, too.  However, the more I sat and thought about it this morning, the more confident I became that I could actually be successful.  So, here is the formal declaration of my goal for the month of November 2008: I, Eric Sherwood, am going to write a novel of (at least) 50,000 words before December 1.

Fifty-thousand words.  Holy crap.  To be honest, I am both ridiculously scared and excited at the same time.  I hope that both of the emotions will drive me toward achieving my goal.  Moreover, when I am completely honest with myself, more of the fears (listed below) are quite unjustified:

• 1) That is a big (and I mean BIG) commitment. 1,667 words written per day. 2,084 if I take a day off every week. This is really the only one that is justified. It is a big deal and it is going to be hard.
• 2) People might think I am an idiot. Let’s face it; becoming a (published) author is a lofty life-goal. Tons of people try it and, like, seven are actually successful enough to become household names.
• 3) It might suck. I cannot decide if this is one of the justified fears or an unjustified one. Of course, the first draft probably will suck to some degree, but I know that all of the good novels started out as a flawed first draft.
• 4) Insanity. OK, probably not…but there is a bit of a chance that I might actually lose my mind during the whole ordeal. *Shrug* If I walk up to you in November spouting gibberish, just shake me a bit and do your best to hold out until December when I should return to my semi-normal state of mere confusion. J

On the other hand, though, I really am excited about it.  I have always wanted to write a novel and this seems like a perfect opportunity to do so.  I know that I want to write professionally and this is just one of the ways that I am going to work towards making that dream a reality.

So, I am going to need your help.  Send me an encouraging text message occasionally.  Write on my Facebook wall, please.  I know that I will be stressed out quite a bit this month (Thank God that Phillip is going to be doing most of the heavy lifting during our Sunday School hour on Sundays this month.  Thanks Phillip!).  Oh!  And keep me accountable.  Ask me how it’s going and hit me (gently, I’m kind of a wimp) if I do not boldly proclaim that I have already finished my word count for the day.   

From what I can tell by reading the NaNoWriMo forums, Week 2 will bring the mental roadblocks and fatigue.  There is a good chance that you might find me on my roof screaming curses at the Phoenicians.  Or wheeling around an IV filled with Starbucks’ bold blend.  Either ignore me or give me a hug, or try to do both with that awkward sideways hug that everyone hates.  I will appreciate it either way.

*Deep Breath* I am going to do this.  Look for random posts this coming month about the overall process.  I will keep writing my posts of other flavors, but this will be my focus.  Here we go…

He has created a rather clever scorecard for rating the holiness of a church’s logo. The post starts like this:

Everyone knows that if you have the letter “t” in your church name/logo, it better be spelled out in the shape of a cross. I know through Christ we are free from the law, but the “t law” is still in effect. If you refuse to adhere to that, a team of Christian graphic designers come to your church and confiscate your copy of Photoshop and Illustrator and take all your fonts except for Comic Sans.

Anyway, take a look at the full post.  I am still laughing hard enough that my employees are beginning to question my sanity.