We’re just about into the beginning of November, so that means it’s time for me to go around promoting NaNoWriMo, because from the moment I first heard about the project, I thought it was a brilliant idea.
What is NaNoWriMo? It’s only a weirdly shortened version of National Novel Writing Month! The month-long event challenges people to set writing goals for themselves for the first minute of November to complete by the very last minute of November. Those who sign up on their website must attempt to write a whopping 50,000 words for a novel of their own conception within the 30-day period. If you need a comparison, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald comes just under 50,000 words.
Their website allows writers to sign up, create their profile, and keep track of their novel’s current word count. Forget about perfecting your writing on the first go every day. The large word count and definitive time window are aimed to force you to simply word vomit as much as you can for your novel without fretting over small details. Churn out the ideas and keep yourself motivated to complete your goal.
While winners don’t get much (just a printable certification saying you’ve completed your goal), NaNoWriMo is a fun way to push yourself to produce something new and feel accomplished. It’s essentially a writer’s New Year’s Resolution for a month.
I tried my hand in NaNoWriMo for several years, but have never succeeded. My track record is quite pitifully actually (the most I’ve ever written for it was 7,844 words), but I’m still keeping at it.
NaNoWriMo may have started small, with only 21 participants during its beginnings in 1999, but 2015’s numbers boasted 431,626 participants in 633 different regions on six continents (with more than 40,000 reaching their 50,000 word goal) and over 3,000,000 words! Many already published and established authors even use NaNoWriMo as a way to get a jumpstart on a new novel. Some more prominent ones include: Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. Most of the previously mentioned novels reached the New York Times Bestseller list.
Now open that notebook (laptop or paper), start brainstorming, and then get writing, because you don’t know what you can produce until you start!
