It has begun. Once more into the breech. All of the motivational quotes you can think of and then some apply to the month of November. Why? Because November isn’t short for “remember, remember the fifth of November” or No Shave November, nope, it is short for National Novel Writing Month.
National Novel Writing Month, or, NaNoWriMo, Nanowrimo, or even Nano for short, is pretty straight forward. Starting on November 1st people from all around the world resolve to plunk themselves down at their desks or with pen(cil) and paper to write a 50,000 word novel before 11:59:59 in their time zone.
That equals out to about 1667 words a day, which is just shy of 7 pages if you average 250 words per page and don’t do crazy things with white space or dialogue. But of course, doing crazy things is completely normal for Nanowrimo. In fact, it is encouraged, because how crazy does it sound to commit to writing that high of a word count on a passion project –really, it can be anything. Romance, dystopian, erotica, chick lit- right before finals and during American Thanksgiving?
Starting Nanowrimo is simple enough.
- Go to the website: http://nanowrimo.org/
- Create your username and password and
- Add some preliminary information about your masterpiece in the works
- Write.
- And don’t stop.
But Nano is about way more than just writing. There’s a shop with merchandise (which I like to call brag-swag), a lively forum, helpful and inspiring advisors, and writing buddies.
Nanowrimo has a very supportive community and forum boards that comes alive every mid-October to mid-December like the rock titans from Hercules and lumber towards that 50,000 word goal like it is Mount Olympus. People take the opportunity to meet and swap ideas, mentor newbies, and commiserate in the virtual coffeehouse about their respective stubborn characters, writing blocks, and love of coffee. Some people have the opportunity to meet up for real life coffee and writing sessions, but this isn’t mandatory. And then there are word wars.
When I first started writing my YA fantasy novel Age of Choice in 2010 I was working by hand and finished up the last three days on a laptop because I prefer plenty of space to scribble. I finished with a few hours to spare, and have finished my proposed novels for four out of the five years that I have competed, so props to me. But there are tons of more impressive success stories than mine. My friend Kaylie wrote over 100,000 words, completing two novels in one month. And some junior members- kids under 18 who set their own writing goals- have finished with 1000 words or more. I’m always impressed by what people are doing, that I finish, and that I have so much raw material to then edit and turn into something good one day.
Some people plan months in advance, others plan days in advance, and some people pick a random topic that day and buckle up for the ride. They may throw ninjas, sharks, or ninja sharks into the mix when they hit a wall and need some words but they will finish. But you have to experience the magic of writing on that first day.
Or if you are like some people who stay up until midnight on October 31st to start, that first dawn. I personally like to write in bursts, getting a little behind but making up for it on the weekends, feeding off the marathon mentality of writing 50000 words in conjunction with hundreds of other passionate writers.
Sure, not everyone finishes, I know I haven’t every year. Some have to bow out to homework or family or regular old work, but I’ve never regretted trying or starting and I look forward to Nano with a mixed bag of anticipation, dread, and raw excitement. Still. The important thing is that people get to be a full blown writer for a few days. They turned that internal editor off and allowed their fingers to answer every “what if?” that popped into their heads. And with that, I’m off to get my word count in before midnight.
