Goodbye, Halloween.

Hello novel!

"Novel? What?"

I'm glad you asked, Ernesto! I'm-a gonna write a novel this month. 50,000 words or greater.

"About what?"

...

"I think that's a legitimate question to ask when someone tells you he's going to write a novel."

You think a lot of crazy things, Ernesto. Crazy things. Might want to watch yourself, in case someone takes those things the wrong way.

"Is that a threat?"

I'm not entirely sure. Probably.

"Okay... then... um, why have you decided to write a novel?"

That one I can answer! On what could best be described as a whim, I went and registered for NaNoWriMo. So, now I'm obligated to, you know, Wri a No this Mo, along with the rest of the Na.

"Oh. So... good for you. Um... can I ask what the book is about now?"

I have no idea.

"You don't know whether I can ask you or not?"

Stop being stupid, Ernesto. So, no plot. No characters. Thirty days. Fifty thousand words. Incidentally, I haven't even written forty thousand words yet on this entire web site, which is disheartening, as that's ten months worth of work. So, more than double that, in a tenth of the time. Good for me. Why do I do these things to myself?

"Because you have low self-esteem and attempt to make up for it by impressing strangers by setting lofty goals for yourself and attempting to reach them, but failing. Ultimately, you end up feeling worse so you come up with another more difficult and unlikely goal. It's a downward spiral because you simply don't think these things through. At all. Ever!"

Ouch... uncalled for, Ernesto. Seriously.

"I calls 'em as I sees 'em."