Secret Project Announcement!

Some of you might have heard me speak of a “secret project” that I’m working on, and I think it’s only right that I make a little announcement of my plans, just to prove that this project does indeed exist and I’m not fobbing you all off, and how, fantastically, everyone can participate!

I’m sure this blog stands as  testament enough for my passion for the written word. I’ve decided to take this to the next level: actually write some prose! Real life fiction! No Doctor Who fan-scripts; actual 100% original fiction. I’m actually going to take a break from science fiction in this context for a while. It’s an idea that has been circulating in my mind for ages, and I’ve decided to act upon my impulses and get to it this November.

“November?” I hear you say. Well, there’s a fantastic little project that runs every November that I think will be an excellent place to test my mettle: it’s known as NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. The basic premise is to write a 50,000 word novel in its entirely between November 1st and November 31st. No pre-written prose is allowed, but you are allowed to use notes and brief scribblings and scrawls. The prize? Satisfaction that you’ve managed to write 50,000 words of contiguous prose in a month. Awesome.

I’ve done some cursory note-taking and thoughts about such a novel, and after listening to numerous fabulous audiobooks from Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series (I highly recommend; think, in the most basic terms, a female Gil Grissom), I’m going to try my hand at a bit of crime fiction. I’ve had a few ideas around conspiracies regarding animal testing as plot points too… would love feedback on those.

I’ll also be blogging about my progress here as November dawns and progresses, and, hopefully, a masterpiece germinates from the foetus in my brain to an actual, living Word document full of my imaginative results!

I’m also spicing this up a little by allowing people to sponsor me to achieve this task – and any proceeds will go to charity. I’m yet to decide a charity to subscribe to; I leave it up to you to suggest a worthy cause in the comments (whether on the actual site or when it’s syndicated across to Facebook) or on my Facebook profile directly, and I’ll make a decision later. It’s official – I’m crowdsourcing the charity aspect of it. Please, get involved and make a suggestion.

Isn’t this wonderful? I think so. I hope you’ll all think what I’m about to endeavour on is a project worthy of it’s “secret” status. Yes, it’s oddball, but I’m oddball and it’s something I really want to do. If needy people benefit indirectly, then that’s great.

Look forward to hearing what you all think.