Are you ready to write your novel? Take the opportunity now!
Yes we're drawing nearer and nearer that wonderful, creative, neurotic month where we celebrate, we laugh, we cry, and we manically write until our brains melt out of our heads. We spend all night at the computer screen, and the next day trying to shut off an overactive imagination long enough to accomplish our responsibilities. We struggle with time and energy constraints, over caffeination, sleep deprivation, and sometimes the frustration of a blank space where our thoughts should be.
For the writers in the audience they know what I'm referring to. It's the month of frenzied writing. It's the month where we type until our fingers are numb. It's the month we ignore the garish marks of the spell checker telling our inner critic to shout at us, so that we will stop and edit. It's the month we push forward with one goal in mind:
50,000 words in 30 days. Which breaks down to roughly 1,667 words a day give or take a few.
Yes, you guessed it. I'm referring to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). NaNoWriMo was founded in 1999 as a way to encourage everyone who wants to write a book, to do that very thing.
All of us have busy lives. But in this case a 50,000 word novel can be hashed out in 30 days by committing the time to write almost 2,000 words a day. When you think about it, that's not really that much.The blogging world is abuzz as aspiring authors prepare themselves to take on the writing challenge. It's a simple goal really. Anyone can participate and there is no restriction on subject matter.
There's no requirement for quality and accuracy. The only thing you need to do to win is write 50,000 words in 30 days. Do not edit. Do not critique. Just "get "er done!" Can"t think of a plot? No problem. There's help for that too.
Blogs like Write Stuff and Terry Heath's Writing are recruiting other NaNo'ers in the blog-o-sphere to join up with morale groups. This will be especially necessary to people who already have hectic schedules. Some are apprehensive about how they will find the time. In my own case being a full time mom and student I question my own sanity for undertaking this. But that's kind of the point of NaNoWriMo.
It's about making the time. As one blogger says, "Writing a book is like having a baby. If you wait for the right time it will never happen!" For those who say, "I'll write a book someday," NaNoWriMo gives you the excuse to make that someday become today. So the participants of the blogging world are holding their breaths in suspense, like a runner waiting for the starting gun.
Write Stuff is also offering a word-count widget for bloggers, and various writing exercises in the meantime. I have found them useful for getting the creative pump primed once again. Also reviewing work that has been previously written can help do the same for those that have participated before. The NaNo site has a Q & A forum every weekday in November, as well as several group forums right there on their site. Not to mention WriMo Radio to help set the pace of the frantic typing your fingers will perform.
But the fun isn't just for bloggers! Schools are getting in on it too. Grade schools, Junior Highs, High Schools, and in the case of my own University, the English Dept. is forming a group for English Majors that are choosing to participate this year. And there are also groups that are formed up by region as listed on the NaNoWriMo web-site. Young, old, student, professional, stay at home mom, working grunt, or couch potato... everyone is encouraged to put that story in the back of their heads down on paper.
In my case this year I will be maniacally writing with a particular author in mind. I will be remembering James Oliver Rigney Jr. this year, or more commonly known to people as Robert Jordan. Mr. Rigney was a literary genius that passed away just this September. The world lost a true artist when this man passed, but it is a stark reminder to all of us that we are not guaranteed to have a "someday". I personally will be dedicating my efforts to the memory of this author who was able to spark my imagination in his life, and was able to inspire me to seize this moment after his death.
NaNoWriMo provides a perfect avenue through which to seize that moment. What are you afraid of? What's stopping you from doing it now? Get your pen and your word processor ready. Think of your characters and outline a quick plot. It doesn't have to be grandiose, but just get it down onto paper. Sign up for your account and then... ready... set... write!
A number of the members of FaithWriters are participating in NaNoWriMo this year but I can't. When you say the writing task is about 2000 words a day every day in November, it doesn't sound so overwhelming.
But I already have a writing commitment that must come first. Maybe next year. Great article.
But I already have a writing commitment that must come first. Maybe next year. Great article.