November 1: Here we go again

A year ago, in an effort to force myself to post here more often, I made a commitment to my first National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo). Somehow I posted every day that month, busy as I was killing turkeys, rehearsing for a play, and grading whole forests of papers. I did it though, and I even won $250 from Blogher, the website that sponsors NaBloPoMo. And then I made it through the smaller ones in February and May, posting every day even if I didn't hit publish until 5:00 am. Then I failed in August. I don't have an excuse. I just failed.

I write best when I have a deadline to honor. On my own, I'm lazy. I'll go out with friends, swear I'm going home early to write, and then straggle in at 2:30 am. I wake up my muse Dolores and promise her I'll write the next day. Or I'll sit down in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorned butter and swear I'll just watch one episode of Survivor. Three hours later I'm yawning and again, I promise I'll start earlier and write the next day.

It's not that I don't write. I write all the time: in the shower, when I'm driving my van, while I'm unloading the dishwasher, and in between games of Words with Friends. It's not really multitasking though, because you see I write in my head, pages and pages -- books really -- of witty, fascinating, often cutting and sarcastic .... oh, wait. That's just thinking. Daydreaming. It's not really writing unless I put words on a page.

Writing is a discipline. It's also a way I hold myself accountable -- by staying authentic and facing down my fear of vulnerability, yes, but also by fulfilling my intention to write regularly.

I've done NaBloPoMo three times in the past year. I've proven I can do it. I need to do more though. This month I will not only post every day, I need to make a personal commitment to myself to write earlier in the day. It's not enough to just write. I need to take a healthier approach to my practice.

Let's see how I'm doing on the first day. It's 2:29 am and technically it's November 2. Well, it's still November 1 somewhere in the world, right? Fuck it. I'm going to ease into this. I'll start with not writing past 3:00 am. Then in a week or two, I'll move it back to 2:00. I can do this.

I have a shit-ton of topics I want to write about this month. I never run out of things to say. Anybody who knows me in real life can vouch for that.

But I'd love to have more input from you. Is there anything you'd like to read about here? More cowbell vagina? Any burning questions I can answer for you? I was an advice columnist for years. I'm good at giving advice. It's taking it I suck at. (Wow. That sentence sounded so dirty.)

I'd love to get more conversations started here, so comment here or, if you must protect your identity, email me. I'll give you a cookie if you do. Everybody needs a cookie!