Hey there, writing brethren. Guess what happens a month from today? Yup. National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known affectionately as NaNoWriMo. Are you participating this year? C’mon. It’ll be insane, stupid, crazy, wtf, goofy fun.
What is NaNoWriMo?
Every year, aspiring (and perspiring) writers get hopped up on their kids stolen Halloween candy and decide that they are going to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The entire month of November.
The whole process promises to be wicked fun and foolishness.
There is a tremendous amount of competition world-wide. Cross country rivalries spring up and if you spend even a wee bit of time in the forums, you are bound to meet a writing buddy or rival. The level of support is huge across the board and you can get pep-talked through any number of means.
So, what do you get when you hit the word count of 50K? Well, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you did a really insane thing and finished, and you also have a (albeit in need of severe editing) novel.
NaNoWriMo is all about speed and quantity. If you spend valuable word creation time polishing, you will have a NoNo WriMo. You can revise and rewrite later. For the month of November, just work on getting your game on.
Now, you can’t start typing your story until November 1st, but you can certainly start building the foundation. Write outlines and character profiles to your heart’s content. Jot down story ideas and plot twists. Develop the heck out of your characters.
This year, I’m doing it. I’ve got the story idea, I’ve been working on story lines and I’m having a blast developing my cast of wacked out characters. I have the web badge and you see I have a counter in the right sidebar that will show either how prolific I am, or how much I suck. (Wayne, no hacking into my site to peg the suck-o-meter)
How about you, my gentle and loyal readers? Are you NaNoWriMo or NoGoWriMo?
My son and I do Nanowrimo together! I wrote my first Nano as a children’s novel for him. I wrote horribly, but it was tons of fun and the next two years we did it together. He writes for Young Writers’ Program, so the word goal is different and our competition is based on percentage completed. It’s a blast doing Nano together.
Hey Ganymeder,
What a cool concept. I’m encouraging the teachers at the local middle school to get involved with the YWP component of the NaNoWriMo. I’m really looking forward to doing this one.
George
I skipped this last year and have sorely regretted it. I’m on this year!
Carrie
Carrie´s last [type] ..Something fun and not quite related to writing
Carrie,
Woot! All right! Lets do it and have a blast. Be sure and dog me if my word count sinks!
George
Hi George,
Hey, good on ya’ for getting your NaNoWriMo on! I finished NaNo last year (in 19 days!) and it was a rip-roaring time. Once I got going, I was on fire.
I’ll be checking in on you to watch your words soar to the sky. And, yeah, I think what made all the difference is that I plotted out a general outline in ~40 bullet points (plot points) prior to go time — it seemed pretty easy to just pick the “bullets” for the day and write the heck out of ‘em.
I’m on the fence if I want to get my NaNoWriMo on in 2010, but I’ll let you know if I decide to make a run for it. Have fun, George!
~xo
Lori´s last [type] ..Naked in Eden Breathing Change
Lori,
19 days! You animal! Looks like the gauntlet has been laid. Let me know if you need help over the fence!
George
Hi George,
This is very tempting. As a non-fiction writer it would be interesting to try and write a novel. I’m sure I would need all the help I could get.
I’ve heard about this project before and it always sounds appealing, but I am always afraid it will take away from my other writing projects.
We will see if I have the mojo to do it. haha.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Jeremy Day´s last [type] ..These are the most important people to listen to…
Hey Jeremy,
I’ll keep an eye out for you. If you need a hand just let me know. Could be fun to give it a go, even if you don’t finish!
George
I’m looking forward to my 6th consecutive NaNo attempt and win this year. Doing things a bit different, as I’m doing more of a Jr. Novel Series. I have a young reader and I thought it might be fun to write something he could read this year.
Grady Pruitt´s last [type] ..Writing Good Characters
Grady,
Sixth one? That’s awesome. A YA novel could work out really well, I bet. Pretty cool that you are keeping your young ‘un in mind too.
Best of luck and I hope to see you in Nano land
George
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