NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month) is something I have wanted to do for a loooong time. Something about buckling down and writing a damn novel in a month seemed like a fascinating albeit daunting thing. For years I saw friends take part in the joy and agony and creative wordsmithery that was novel writing, but I could never do it myself. There was always some reason or another- I didn't have time, I didn't have an idea, I didn't feel like it... whatever.
This year, however, I have no excuses. I have time, I have a damn good idea that has been rattling around in my head for a while and I actually want to get it out. But how?
When I first signed on I was so jacked! Finally I'd have some work of fiction under my belt! Hadn't I always wanted to try my hand at creative writing in a serious way? Of course! I love fiction!
Then it hit me: I have NO IDEA where to start. All I had were characters and a vague sci-fi idea. I calmed my inner turmoil and thought, okay, so maybe I don't have a plot, but I have characters. That's a start... what next? Setting, okay I can do that... and I did. I wrote out an entire universe in a day. Politics, religions, past wars... it wasn't perfect, but it was a setting. I spent the next day thinking about my characters in my setting and it all began to make sense. A story developed. I wrote a short, 500 or so word scene, just to prove to myself I could. I read it back and hey, it wasn't half bad.
After that I walked away from the typing for a while. Let the ideas simmer (that is, I got sick and forgot to write anything). When I came back to it, I felt... ready. Scared still that I'd have nothing, but I wanted to try. Now I've got two scenes, an outline of the first four chapters, a guide to the universe and seven character bios. It's not much as far as novels go, but it's certainly something- and more than I would have if I'd never tried at all.
So wish me luck, I'm an author now!