Are you ready to draft a 50,000 word novel in 30 days? If so, you’ll be pleased to note that Thursday is the first day of the annual brouhaha known as National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo.

On November 30, I’d like to catch up with the 160,000 or so folks who have signed up for Nanowrimo this year, just to see how many have written a draft of a novel in 30 days. And then I would like to shake their hands.

I wrote my most recent novel in three four years, the one before that in a year (under duress), the one before that in four years, and the one before that in two. My story collection took, oh, eight years or so. I would not recommend taking this long to write a novel. One becomes depressed as the years drag on and the novel sits unfinished. One begins to look back and think, “What did I do with all those days?”

Of course, I imagine that most people embarking on Nanowrimo are younger than I am. It may be possible to draft a novel in a month if you have a job but no kids, or if you have kids but no job. Other things you should not have if you want to participate in Nanowrimo: emergencies, car trouble, a leaking roof, a spouse or live-in partner, a roommate, a dog, a drinking habit, scheduled work trips, scheduled vacations, a yoga habit, a gilt.com habit, outbursts of mental laziness. Since writing is my day job and I clearly have no yoga habit, I have just talked myself into attempting a draft of a novel in 50 days, the spouse be damned. My outbursts of mental laziness will have to cease and desist. Okay, maybe not a whole draft of a novel, but half of a draft. I hereby commit. I’ll check in 30 days from now and tell you how far I got.

Meanwhile, if you’re up for the challenge, head over to Nanowrimo.org for camraderie and encouragement. And today, day one, try this:

Nanowrimo Exercise: Day 1: Write a scene in which a character is somehow immobilized. The character may be stuck in a stalled subway car, confined to a bed or wheelchair, locked in a room, paralyzed by fear.  How does the character react? What does he or she say/do? The fact that your character is immobilized creates a natural source of dramatic tension. Dramatic tension is the lifeblood of narrative; you want the reader to wonder, “what will happen next?”

Write the scene from the first person point of view for now; you can always change it later. The advantage of first person done well is twofold. It creates an intimacy between the reader and the protagonist, and it establishes the voice of the story or novel. The first person point of view is particularly helpful to the writer in the early stages of drafting a novel, as it can help you to see more clearly through your character’s eyes.

This exercise is excerpted from Story Starters: A Workbook for Writers. You might also enjoy The NaNoWriMo Workbook.

Michelle Richmond is the author of four books of fiction and the founder of Fiction Attic Press.  Visit her at BayAreaBookDoctor.com or MichelleRichmond.com.