It’s the last day of October, which means it’s that time of year again. 🙂
No, no, I don’t mean the upcoming holidays–although those will be here before we realize it–I mean that time of the year. The time when coffee shops and libraries seem to have been taken over by hordes of over-caffeinated people with laptops, notebooks, and pens. Most of you know what I’m talking about. And if you don’t…well, you probably will by the end of the month. 🙂
November 1st kicks off the 30-day annual craziness of National Novel Writing Month, fondly known as NaNoWriMo. (You can learn more about them here.) In a nutshell, the goal of NaNo is to write 50,000 words during the month of November.
Yep. You read that correctly. 50,000 words. (About the half the size of a standard novel.) Depending on an individual writer’s dedication, skill, sheer perseverance, ect., that is either a Mount Everest of words, a drop in the proverbial bucket, or something in between.
Plus, there’s a fabulous–and hilarious–NaNoWriMo webcomic. 😀 Check out NaNoToons. They have an archive going back a couple of years.
I’ve known about NaNoWriMo since 2003, but last November marked the first time I actually attempted it. And I won, though it was a close thing there at the end. (I really, really wanted that coupon for 50% off Scrivener! :P)
This year, I’m going to attempt it again, although I’ll be splitting the word count between two novels. (It’s legal; just…nonstandard.:P I’m now officially a NaNo Rebel.) I really need to power through the last few chapters of TOSOTH, and then I’ll start a fairytale-esque story that hit me a few weeks ago. (I’m saving the third book in The Guardians series for January, when I’ll have the outline/timeline tweaked to fit with Portal Woes.)
A lot of fun, crazy things happen during NaNoWriMo, but the real takeaway for me has been learning that I really can write that many words in a month. I may have moments where I get stuck, and the words may not all be perfect, but down the road it’s a lot easier to work with something than nothing. Plus, it’s a great exercise in locking my inner editor in a closet and going with the creative flow. 😀
Now, if I could just write this much consistently… 😉
Speaking of which, check out 12Novels! January of this year, PartlyPixie set out to write a 50,000 word novel every month, for a total of 12 novels, and has chronicled that journey thus far. My hat’s off to her.
For those about to undertake NaNoWriMo, I salute you. For those of you related to or friends with someone about to undertake this craziness, I salute you. Life’s going to be rather interesting the next 30 days. 😀