November is National Novel Writing Month. Linda Hengerer is a Vero Beach writer who read about it in the April 2004 Writer's Digest; she tried it in 2004, andevery year since then, writing at least 50,000 words each November. Since 2005, she's also been a Municipal Liaison, scheduling Kick-Off and TGIO parties and write-ins for the local writers who call the Vero Beach region their home. Writing weekly pep-talks and monitoring the forums and answering questions are also part of the ML job.

Reasons for participating vary. Linda decided that 2004 was the year to either get the writing bug out of her system, or pursue her dream of publication. 2004 was a life-changing year for her; her father died suddenly in July, and the two hurricanes in September reinforced her feeling that life is short and chasing a dream is worthwhile.

The concept started in 1999 in Oakland, CA, by Chris Baty, who invited 20 friends to join him in writing the novels they'd been talking about writing. Novel is defined as 50,000 words (roughly 175 pages). Chris wrote 50,000 words, and realized he was only half-way through his story. Five of his friends also reached their goal. As NaNoWriMo evolved, it was moved to November, and grew to 101,510 global participants in 2007, with 15,333 coming in with at least 50,000 words before midnight, their local time.

2008 is the 10 th year for National Novel Writing Month; it is the largest writing contest in the world. The home page ( www.NaNoWriMo.org) says it best: Celebrating 10 years of literary abandon!

Abandon comes in many forms. You abandon friends and family to write 50,000 words in 30 days (1,667 words/day). You abandon the inner critic to get that many words written, because you simply don't have the time to perfect what you've written. You abandon the routine you have for the 11 other months of the year, where you socialize, watch TV, entertain, and don't write. You abandon any sense of feeling in your bottom; sitting for that many hours takes a toll. You abandon your excuse that "Someday, I'd like to write a novel," because you decide that Someday starts on Saturday, November 1.

Some of what you write will shock you. Sometimes the shock is that you, you, wrote something incredible. Sometimes the shock is that you wrote something awful. This is all okay; a better writer than I am said, "I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank page" (Nora Roberts). The point is to write a really bad first draft. This process worked for Sara Gruen; her Water for Elephants began as a NaNo novel.

There is no charge to participate, although participants are asked to donate to help defray expenses. The Office of Letters and Lights, a 501(c)3 non-profit, is the umbrella organization that oversees NaNo and its sister writing competion, Script Frenzy. Donations are tax deductible, and there's information about how to donate when you don't have any money (using GoodSearch as your search engine is one way; they donate $.01 for every search made on their search engine to the Office of Letters and Light, Oakland CA, when you select that non-profit).

Join us for the Kick-Off party from 6-8pm at Panera Bread, 2005 Indian River Blvd., Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772-794-0188 for directions). Weekly write-ins willbe held most Mondays from 6-8pm at Starbucks by I-95, 1789 NW St. Lucie West Blvc, PSL, FL, 34986; 772-807-8931 for directions.Dates for the PSL write-ins are 11/3, 11/10, 11/18 (TUES), and 11/24. The TGIO party will be from 6-8 pm at the Clubhouse Grill, 4000 Atlantic Blvd., Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772-794-0011 for directions). Write-ins will also be held weekly at thePanera Bread inVero Beach, and the Barnes & Noble stores in Melbourne and Merritt Island. Go to www.NaNoWriMo.org for more information and to sign up, or email verowriter@gmail.com.