Big dare
November, it seems, is National Novel Writing Month. The folks at NaNoWriMo (as they call it) encourage people to sign up for a giant novel dare (they've got 5000 people signed up for this year's dare so far). "It's all about quantity, not quality." I find most of what they say laudable, but I think they take the "allow yourself to write crap" thing too far, as when their FAQ notes: "People looking to write classy, complex novels should not participate. People . . . who take their writing very seriously should also go elsewhere." (But perhaps I'm overreacting; they may be talking only about people who take their writing very seriously.) Mostly, I like their tips and strategy section.