50K Word Written in One Month?

I might be crazy and truthfully, I haven't made that ultimate committment plunge yet, but I am thinking this is a great way to bust some creative blocks. Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? It stands for National Novel Writing Month and folks call it Nano. Are you willing to take the plunge?

Amplify’d from www.creativity-portal.com

In Praise of NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo is thirty days of all-out writing madness, and only the strong survive. What I love most about November is it gives regular people the chance to write a book — folks who don’t necessarily think of themselves as writers.

an insane task — write 50,000 words in thirty days.

That’s the true beauty of Nano, in my opinion — there’s no time to get in your own way. No time for writer’s block — no time for the Inner Editor to trip you up. You just go.

Don’t expect a whole novel to appear, fully fleshed out with all its parts intact, in thirty days. If you’re lucky, you’ll have the bare bones of a story, a few intriguing characters, and a strong start.

What’s the number one reason novels don’t get published? They don’t get started. What’s the number two reason? They don’t get finished

Think you’ve got what it takes to Nano? Check out their website at www.nanowrimo.org for all the juicy details. You’ll find plot bunnies, fascinating threads and forums, tips on surviving NaNoWriMo with your sanity intact, Nano-bling, a calendar of events for your region, and more. • Read more at www.creativity-portal.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e721

Related articles

• NaNoWriMo (aseeofgreen.wordpress.com)
• "Lifehacker Takes On The NaNoWriMo Challenge" and related posts (lifehacker.com.au)
• "NaNoWriMo - it's almost here!" and related posts (trashionista.com)

 

Parenting Paranoia on Halloween

The author quoted below makes a case that Halloween is the safest day of the year. She backs it up with research tested logic. Never the less, I remain paranoid. How about you? Do you send your children out unattended on Halloween? Do you check your child's candy before they eat it. I confess I did and I still would. Share your thoughts on this by clicking the comment link below or posting us a comment on our ParentingToolbox Facebook Group page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=153708258000364

Amplify’d from www.wallstreetjournal.com

Halloween is the day when America market-tests parental paranoia. If a new fear flies on Halloween, it's probably going to catch on the rest of the year, too.

Take "stranger danger," the classic Halloween horror. Even when I was a kid, back in the "Bewitched" and "Brady Bunch" costume era, parents were already worried about neighbors poisoning candy. Sure, the folks down the street might smile and wave the rest of the year, but apparently they were just biding their time before stuffing us silly with strychnine-laced Smarties.

That was a wacky idea, but we bought it. We still buy it, even though Joel Best, a sociologist at the University of Delaware, has researched the topic and spends every October telling the press that there has never been a single case of any child being killed by a stranger's Halloween candy. (Oh, yes, he concedes, there was once a Texas boy poisoned by a Pixie Stix. But his dad did it for the insurance money. He was executed.)

Then along came new fears. Parents are warned annually not to let their children wear costumes that are too tight—those could seriously restrict breathing! But not too loose either—kids could trip! Fall! Die!

And now comes the latest Halloween terror: Across the country, cities and states are passing waves of laws preventing registered sex offenders from leaving their homes—or sometimes even turning on their lights—on Halloween.

We can kill off Halloween, or we can accept that it isn't dangerous and give it back to the kids. Then maybe we can start giving them back the rest of their childhoods, too. Read more at www.wallstreetjournal.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e4rp

Related articles

• Poisoned Halloween Candy: Trick, Treat or Myth? (livescience.com)
• Nobody Is Poisoning Halloween Candy (slog.thestranger.com)
• Lenore Skenazy: 'Stranger Danger' and the Decline of Halloween (online.wsj.com)

  Search Amazon.com for halloween decor

15 guidelines for trend watching...

clipped from trendwatching.com

Let's face it, the only thing that separates you—passionate CEO, marketer, entrepreneur—from being in the know, is the time that must be devoted to tracking and applying trend content.
And yet, when we ask professionals if and how they spot and apply trends, we're told they're still having a hard time getting a handle on the basics.
So here are 15 trend watching tips, some practical, some more contextual, for you to run with today:

1. Know why you're tracking trends

1. Don’t get your trends mixed up

1. Know a fad when you see (or smell) one

1. Be (very) curious

1. Don’t apply all trends to all people

1. Have a Point of View

1. Benefit from an unprecedented abundance of resources

1. Name your trends

1. Build your Trend Framework

1. Start a Trend Group (even if it’s just you)

1. Secure senior backing or be doomed

1. Don't worry about timing or life cycles or regional suitability or...

1. Apply, apply, apply

1. Have some fun

1. Let others do some of the work for you in 2011