NaNoWriMo

  Everywhere I look it seems as if writers are preparing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  I love the thought of writing 50,000 words in one month.  Sitting down to write with my netbook and a cup of coffee is one of my favorite parts of the day.  I have seriously thought of jumping on board but a few things keep holding me back. 
   The main thing that is holding me back is that I am concerned that I am not ready for this adventure.  I haven't been in the habit of writing daily for very long and that is a lot of words.  I spend a lot of my spare time learning about plot and character development.  I would have to drop all of that for the whole month and I don't know if that would be wise.  I am learning so much and I can see how it is improving my writing. Another thing is that I lack confidence.  I don't want to write a terrible book because I set to high of a goal for myself.  I am still a very slow writer...  I know that these are all excuses but I really want to be a good writer and I don't want to burn out.
  I have decided to set my own goal for November.  I want to write 10,000 words on my currant novel.  It doesn't look like much in comparison to writing 50,000 but it is huge stretch from what I have been doing.  Hopefully I can balance this into my life, reach my goal and still have time to learn more about my craft. 
 
 I am excited by my goal and I hope that it will prepare me to be a real participant in NaNoWriMo next year.  If you are participating this year or are setting goals for yourself I would love to here about it!