NaNoWriMo: The world's most obnoxious accronym for the world's coolest month

Unbeknownst to me, National Novel Writing Month began Nov. 1.

The goal: to write a 50,000 word novel (175 pages) in 30 days. No editing, no revising, and no second-guessing; just plow through the shitty first draft.

Yesterday, I signed up at this site to participate (although I am 3 days behind. blech), and I will do my best to hold to my effort. So far, I have about 2000 words down, with only 48,000 more to go. I figure that if I write 2000 words a day, I should be able to hit the 50,000 mark with a bit of time to spare. The problem is, I simply started writing. I have no idea where this novel is heading.

As of now, it's a fantasy story about a man named Mat who has recently graduated from Magical College and become a Mage. To fulfill ancient tradition, he has to go back to his home and present his family with a gift, something he does not look forward to in the slightest, because he would rather be off doing magey things and gallivanting about. Oh, and his family sorta kinda hates him because he may have accidentally burned his house down when he was 12. With his mom in it. Aaaand the townsfolk might have held him locked in a closet for a year before attempting to drown him, to be saved only by a roving Archmage, due to the fact that he was born into a particularly superstitious, magic-hating part of the world.

Did I mention the sudden, unfortunate war that breaks out around his hometown while he's visiting, effectively cutting him off from the rest of the world and threatening to destroy the little town? Because that happens too.

I think it does, anyway. I've only written to the part where he's traveling home, and most of that stuff hasn't really been discussed yet. I'm just playing it by ear.

But there are italics. Lots of italics.  What that means, I'll let you guess.