Committing to writing daily for a month is a big undertaking. Life inside my bubble isn't quite what one might consider relaxed or leisurely. I think its a good and necessary opportunity to flex a muscle in my brain, to the point where I can write when I have to write, even if there isn't some thought crying out to be shared. It forces me to dig deeper past my sometimes foggy thoughts and search for threads to pull. Some threads have decidedly short strings (you should see my drafts folder - it needs purging desperately) but some threads reveal surprising depth.
I'm not doing NaBloPoMo to gain readership. I'm not expecting that somehow I'll have a magic moment that launches this space into the atmosphere of the pithy and famous (though any blogger who doesn't admit that they're at least hoping for that is probably being disingenuous).
I'm doing this to become a better writer. Not mechanically better, if I want that I'll join a writer's group and let others pick apart my plot, sentence structure and word choices. But better in terms of my ability to write at will and as needed. To be disciplined and capable at writing so that when I, like a million other dreamers, will finally send an envelope - lots of envelopes - to lots of publishers in hopes that one of them will read what's enclosed and decide to take a chance on backing me.
When I went to check the NaBloPoMo blogroll to verify my information was included I was reminded in a very concrete way that I'm just one amoeba in a vast sea of writers seeking to be heard and recognized. There are over 2200 blogs listed on this month's blogroll. If I were looking for new blogs to add to my own feed, even if I read 5 new blogs a day from that list (and I really don't have that kind of time) I'd have to repeat that daily for over a year just to get through them all.
When you realize how big the blogging world is - at least, when I realize how big it is - I'm humbled by the handful of you who keep stopping by here to read and to sometimes comment. (Even you, Mom, who would come here and read even if it were all drivel, as it sometimes is). So thank you. You honor me with your investment of time and attention.
