A few years ago I took on the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge. The 50,000 word goal presents an opportunity to write for quantity during the month of November. The idea is, do away with editing censoring for 30 days just write. “When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it’s a great excuse for not doing any dishes for a month,” says Chris Baty, NaNoWriMo founder.

I did not make the word count during that November, but it was quite exciting to feverishly write in a stream-of-consciousness manner tap into the extensive online community on the website (www.nanowrimo.org). Forum topics can be found on different genres, writers block even one titled NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul.

Bend has been very fortunate of late to host a number of events for fellow wordsmiths. BendFilm held a panel From Pen to Screen: The Creative Process where several notable screenwriters discussed writing for the big screen the Nature of Words will hold 18 different workshops from Points of Departure for the Personal Essay to L scapes & Light: Poetry the Natural World.

Simply put, November is a good month for words. Weather being unpleasant unreliable, some days all you need is a good cup of coffee a blank page.