So, you think you can slug out 50,000 words in 30 days? That's 1,667 words a day. If you think you can, then perhaps it about time you join the annual National Novel Writing Month or the NaNoWriMo from Nov 1 till Nov 30, 2006.

Here's the deal if you want to participate. First, get yourself registered as a NaNoWriMo member. Then once that is done, you can start writing your novel from 12.01am on Nov 1 (United States time) or 12.01am on Nov 2 (Malaysian time). By midnight on Nov 30 (Dec 1 in Malaysia), you stop writing and see if you can come up with at least a 50,000-word novel.

The good thing about NaNoWriMo is that you can write your novel in any languages even though those guys who run the annual novel writing project are based in the US (that's why we followed the US timezone, which is a day behind Malaysia).

There's no monetary prize for the winner. But if you can complete your 50,000-word novel during the period, you win the ultimate -- and priceless -- prize of self-discovery and becoming richer in experience. I've already registered. Will keep you updated on the progress.

In the meantime, those who once said "One day I want to write a novel..." must know that the "One day..." is already coming to you this November. I encourage you to try! Here's the address once again -- www.nanowrimo.org.