You have 30 days. 30. 1, 2, 3, …. 28, 29, 30. What could you possibly do in those 30 days?

Could you learn to ride a horse?

How about read a book? Or two. Three?

What about take a class? Lose 2-4 pounds? Start to exercise? Buy a boat? A house? Build a house?

Okay, maybe a few of those ideas are a little ridiculous.

But 30 days is a long time!

In fact, you could…

Finish 1/3 of a complete P90X regimen. You could see all phases of the moon. You could experience every day of the week four whole times, and a few days a fifth time. You could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner 30 times each. You could sleep 240 hours (unless you have kids, then that number will never apply to you again).

You could train for a 5k.

Tons and tons and tons of stuff you could do.

Well … November is National Novel Writing Month and yes … I participate. Have for the last two years and this is my third. Now, while *I* participate (because I do the writing), this is the 2nd year in a row where I participate under my other pen name … Emi Gayle.

So who is Emi Gayle and what’s she about to embark upon?

Emi Gayle is my alter-ego. My younger, skinnier, healthier, prettier alter-ego. She’s the me who still wants to be a teenager. She writes romantic stories for teenagers. She writes in 1st person. She writes by living vicariously through her teenage son … instead of how me-as-Aimee-Laine writes (I write for adults).

You see, I loved my teenage years, and I want to relive them, but I still like the fantastical. I also like the challenge. Last year, during the month of November, I wrote my first Young Adult story. Then in January, I wrote another.

Now, I’ll be writing my third, which is also the 2nd in the trilogy I started in January.

And yes, I’ll be writing it during the 30 days of November.

As part of Nanowrimo, the goal is only 50,000 words (about 1/2 of a complete novel) but I’ll go the full run. All 85,000-90,000 words in one month.

30 days.

And better yet, I’m “competing” in a friendly little challenge with fellow writer Jocelyn Adams. The prize for the first to 50,000 words is chocolate and yet another blog post touting the awesomeness of the other. You see? friendly little wager.

I lost last time.

I don’t plan to lose a second time. 🙂

Why do I torture myself, I mean compete like this? It’s fun. Jocelyn and I write very, very, very fast and it’s fun to set a goal and see what can happen. I’ll use this month to write the 2nd story in the series to challenge myself more.

I love a challenge.

While I realize some would think it nuts to write an entire book in 30 days … I LOVE it. And that’s what I’ll do.

So …

3 … 2 … 1 … GO!

What can you do during the 30 days of November? Or any 30 day period of time? Share in the comments!

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