Hi everyone! Sorry that last weeks post didn’t happen. I stressed all week about this crazy important Midterm that I had coming up and totally spaced the post. Part two of websites is probably going to have to wait until November because this one post HAS to be out before November starts. It’s important that it gets out before November because it’s about a huge writing event that happens every November and if you know what I’m talking about I have just one question. Are you prepared and ready for NANOWRIMO?!?!?!?!
Writer Resources and Tools: Nanowrimo
Nanowrimo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. National Novel Writing Month began in July of 1999 with a group of 21 PEOPLE in California who decided to write a whole novel each in a month. I specify people because none of the original participants considered themselves writers. The man who started the idea of Nanowrimo, Christ Baty, explained that they started it because they, "wanted to write novels for the same dumb reasons twentysomethings start bands". It was an idea for something fun to do. As the years went by and the world wide web became more and more of a facet of everyday life Nanowrimo took off and was not longer just National. Nanowrimo is now an international month of writing. People from all over the world participate in writing a whole novel in a month. There is even a website for participating in Nanowrimo where you can get together with other writers participating from all over the world and can join groups specific to your area.
When I first joined Nanowrimo in 2013 I didn’t know any other writers in my area. I wasn’t even aware that there were other writers. Since 2013, during Nanowrimo, I have ‘won’ Nanowrimo 5 times and am aiming for a 6th win this November. I have joined a region group for writers who live within the same 20 mile area as I do. As you can tell by how ranty this post is so far I absolutely love Nanowrimo. Nanowrimo is every November and anyone from anywhere in the world can participate. The rules are simple.
1) Writing starts at 12:00: a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time. This is all the time you get to participate in Nanowrimo.
2) No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point. Don’t cheat. It ruins the fun.
3) Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later. I have reached several different lengths on several different years. Some years I struggled with my writing and just barely reached over 50,000 words. Other years I wrote between 60,000 to 70,000 words. The years I didn’t win I barely reached 10,000 words. If you are writing a minimum of 50,000 words a day it usually averages to 1,667 words a days for 30 days give or take a couple words here or there.
4) Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel. October is Nano prep month for me. I spend a large chunk of October (and sometimes September if I remember early enough) planning, plotting, world building, and character designing. Nanowrimo is difficult to achieve without solid ideas before the first of November.
5) Participants' novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language. Everything from fanfiction, which uses trademarked characters, to novels in poem format, and metafiction is allowed; according to the website's FAQ, "If you believe you're writing a novel, we believe you're writing a novel too." One year I wrote fanfiction. One year I decided to challenge myself and attempted to write a 50,000 word poetry book. One year I was writing the first book of a series, the next I wrote the second.
The great thing about Nanowrimo is that it can be anything you want. Nanowrimo is not to guilt trip lazy writers into writing something, although a lot of writers use it as motivation to get back to writing after a long break. Nanowrimo is not to make you feel stressed about writing a 50,000 word novel. Nanowrimo is not to make writers spend even more time alone in their imaginary world.
Nanowrimo is an opportunity. And opportunity for new and old writers to stretch and grow. It’s an excuse to get online and get to know other writers in the world and around you. It’s a chance to challenge yourself and participate in something you’ve never done before. Nanowrimo is the month that writers have an excuse to set aside time to write and experiment with their writing.
An amazing part of the team that run Nanowrimo is that they help writers all year round. Nanowrimo the event is for one month. Nanowrimo the group is all year. Writers use Nanowrimo to speak to each other all year round. The Nano prep months are used to get to your characters, other writers, and your new story. Nanowrimo is used to challenge yourself, write something new, and stretch. The Now What Months are used for editing, rewriting, revising and sometimes publication.
I’ve listed Nanowrimo as its own resource and tool because it is both of those things. It is a resource. It is a website. It is a place to go to learn from other writers. It is also a tool that a good writer can use to become a great writer. There are so many opportunities during Nanowrimo that I can’t even name them all. If you haven’t already, check it out here, and become a part of the Nanowrimo community. It’s great!
I hope that everyone liked this weeks post. Sorry again about last weeks post. Webistes part two will definitely be up next week in November. I’m writing all the November posts ahead of time, so they don’t get missed while I’m busy doing work, school, and Nanowrimo. I hope that everyone gets a chance to follow me on Instagram or become a member on the blog site. If you haven’t, please do. I have a Facebook and an Instagram that I try to update frequently. Thanks for popping by and don’t forget,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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