In just a couple of weeks, National Novel Writing Month kicks off. While everyone is lying in a blissful sugary Halloween coma I will be grabbing my laptop and begin pounding out approximately 175 pages of *pure genius (*only in opposite land).
The challenge is to knock out 50,000 words between 12:01 am on November 1 to 11:59 pm on November 30. This works out to about 1,666 words a day. It is like a writing marathon, and my goal is to be the Donovan Bailey of said marathon.
National Novel Month began in 1999 with only 21 participants, last year over 200,000 participants took on the challenge with 30,000 people crossing that 50,000 word finish line.
Why take on the challenge? I feel the NANOWRIMO team summed it up best. “We wanted to write novels for the same dumb reasons twentysomethings start bands. Because we wanted to make noise. Because we didn’t have anything better to do. And because we thought that, as novelists, we would have an easier time getting dates than we did as non-novelists.”
For someone whose life goal has been to write a novel, this challenge is perfect. There is no longer a “one day” or “when I have time”. It’s “you have a month, so let’s see if you can walk the walk. GO!”
Sure, this will probably be hastily written word vomit (with a goal of 1,666 words a day, it doesn’t leave much time for editing). And it probably won’t be read by anyone but me, but if I reach that literary finish line I am popping the champagne and introducing myself as Deanne Kondrat “Novelist” from here on out. Plus, Deanne Kondrat “Novelist” sounds pretty bad-ass... I might get business cards made.
I feel like November will consist of 30 days filled with coffee, meals made of Bulk Barn delicacies and lax hygiene. But it’s an adventure I am looking forward to. My roommate and I are planning on a little friendly competition this year, complete with stickers and sparkly bar graphs. Note: Friends and family if you don’t hear from me for a few weeks, don’t be alarmed. I’m simply immersed in my own genius.
If there are any other budding wordsmith’s in the area, you can find more information on National Novel Writing Month here. You can sign up for free and track your progress as well as share your stories of success and frustration. There are also opportunities for local libraries and independent book stores to get involved and show their support.
Let me know if you are involved with the challenge or have been in the past. I would love to hear of your adventures!
Now comes the question… what the hell am I going to write about?
Comments
I "won" NaNoWriMo twice. It's so great as a motivator to get off (er, on) your ass and write. Even if it ends up as crap, it's a whole novel's worth of crap, which proves that you're at least able to put that many words into sentences.
Good luck! I hope you post your novel on Fuse. Oh and add me as a writing buddy whenever they enable that, if you want. My name is Phronk.
I'm impressed - tell me your secrets to success! I have failed miserably at this two years in a row, but this year I am determined!
Great to hear that there are some other Londoners involved.
Hmm I'd say the biggest secret is to write every single day, and try to get ahead of where you should be. Because if you ever fall behind, you're screwed. It's hard enough to write 1666 words in a day, but missing a day and having to write double that? Almost impossible.
Also, prepare friends for never seeing you. It's hard to have a social life at all.
There are quite a few Londoners doing it. On the official NaNoWriMo message boards, there's one for London that's pretty active. We had meetups a few years ago, which was awkward fun.
Anyway, good luck!
Wow, what a challenge. I'm with phronk, it would be great to see the final product. Best of luck.
I tried this two years in a row, made it half way both times and then got behind and never kept up. It takes lots of discipline but the payoff in the end (even if it is complete garbage, which it should be) can be amazing.