posted by M.L. Sanico
November is National Novel Writing Month!
…ever wanted to write a novel?
It started in 1999 with only 21 participants and in 2008 over 100,000 people signed up from all over the world. But what is Nanowrimo? Well…
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
NaNoWriMo is a blessing and a curse! There’s something liberating about writing from the hip, just for the sake of it, not caring about grammar, tenses and transitions. Sure, it starts off fun and inspirational but by the second week when your fingers are calloused from typing and you’re 1300 words behind schedule things start to look a bit bleak. The best part of NaNoWriMo, aside from accomplishing the challenge, is that it’s like a marathon fundraiser… but for writers! Participants can donate money themselves or get pledges from sponsors to donate a certain amount if they reach the 50,000 word goal. Proceeds go to fund national literacy and youth writing programs.
Here at HBB we’re entering primarily for fun and because it sort of forces us to get over our anal tendencies and have a good time writing. In fact three of us here (me, Dawn, and our graphics girl Lindsey) had participated in years past but nobody was able to hit the goal of 50,000 words. This year will be different! 50,000 words divided by 29 days (1 day for counting) equals approximately 1800 words a day (rounded up). 1800 words… a day!! That means if we fall behind even TWO days we”ll be playing catch up for the rest of the month. It’s definitely not as easy as it sounds. But wish us luck, the craziness begins midnight this Saturday.
The other great thing about NaNoWriMo is that people from all over the world participate and you can sign up for “regions” and other groups for support, motivation and fun! Oahu has it’s own NaNoWriMo group and they’re having their kick-off tomorrow nite Oct 30th at 7:00pm at the Zippy’s on McCully. The Big Island Nanoers are having a kick-off on Saturday at 10:00am at Kailua Kona Borders. They’re calling it a “Plotting Party” to help this years participants iron out plots so that no one gets stuck writing “what’s next?”. NaNoWriMo is a great opportunity for professional and amateur writers to connect and have fun–a chance to meet new people, gain experience and learn more about the craft.
If this sounds interesting to you and you want to learn more… check out the NaNoWriMo website! Or send me an email/comment and I’d be happy to give you more info. For all you 808 Nanoers out there already signed up, goodluck and may the muse be with you!
