NaBloWriMo

Hey, y'all.  It's sixty-eight degrees outside right now, which makes me want to rip off all my close and go skipping down the street.

But this post isn't about a potentially middle-aged lady limping around frightening the neighbors (although maybe THAT would get their attention).  Nope, this is a heads up, my loves, because National Blog-Writing Month  is right around the corner.

What's this NaBloWriMo, you say?  (Except for those of you who have been hanging around the NaBloWriMo water cooler with me for a few years now...y'all go ahead and file your fingernails or organize your CDs or bake a lime chiffon pie for a second.)  Well, a few years ago, the incomparable Miz Amy decided that NaNoWriMo shouldn't have all the fun and she started this here festival of bloggy goodness.  The idea is simple:  every day, for a month, you write a blog post.  Any blog post.  You can blog about anything you want: your hubs, your kids, that weird lady who smells the bananas in Hell-Mart...really, the possibilities are endless.  The only catch is that, for the entire month of October, you write an entry every single day.

Is this challenging?  Why, yes.  Yes, it is.  A couple of times last year, my entries were pretty much:  "I'm tired.  The kids are driving me crazy.  I can't find my tea mug."  It was inspiring, I tell you.  And, in fact, there have been years when I DIDN'T write every day.  The whole point of NaBloWriMo is to increase your posting, but we don't exactly come out with sticks and beat you with them if you miss a day or two.

Now, I say the whole point of NaBloWriMo is to increase posting, and that's true enough.  But can I tell you a secret?  The BEST part of it, for me, is meeting new folks and catching up with old friends.  I don't visit blogs like I used to, but I try to make a point, in October, to visit all of the blogs I can every day.  In fact, one thing I realized while I was writing this is that, somehow, NaBloWriMo has come to mean Autumn to me and has settled itself in snuggly as a part of Visiting Season.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

Ahem.

I've been chatting with a few of y'all about changing things up a little for this year.  Here's what I've got so far:

• We'll be offering the option to categorize yourself this year.  I'll be coming up with the categories based on who signs up.  You WON'T be forced to enter a category.  If you don't want to be pigeon-holed, we are all about you following your bliss, man.  
• We'll be putting up a prompt every day.  This was a sporadic feature last year, but THIS year, I'm gonna look to you guys for some suggestions.  So start sending them in, yo!
• We're considering doing some prizes this year.  Of course, the prizes will come from...uh...US, so if you're craftily inclined or you have some great talent or product you'd like to share with us, let me know.  For example, I might offer up a header redesign with matching background for your blog.  Or I'll edit some of your snapshots.  Or crochet you a groovy scarf.  The prizes might be random and they might be specifically for things like:  funniest post, most thought-provoking post, et cetera.  

Okay, so are you ready?  Are you set?  Here's what you do:

Shoot me an email at nothannah@comsouth.net with the subject line NaBloWriMo Entry.  In the body of your email, tell me your name, the name of your blog, and the category you feel best describes your blog.  (If you so choose, man.)  If the spirit moves you, include a prompt or two.  If you feel like you might be able to contribute a prize, let me know.  (BTW, vendors who contribute will be able to put up a button on the NaBloWriMo site.)  The deadline for entries is Friday, September 30th.  

In a couple of days, I'll have some buttons you can use on your blog to announce your participation and hopefully spread the news.  We grew by leaps and bounds last year, and I'm hoping to break a hundred participants this year.  Well, not break them.

I've already told y'all, this is a violence-free event.  

I mean, we'd like to have a hundred participants.  

You knew that, didn't you?

Yay!