NaNoWriMo 2014

So as some of you may know, I have committed to giving NaNoWriMo my best shot this year. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is November, and has been going on annually since 1999.Co-founder and author Chris Baty started this movement with 20 friends in 1999 as an effort to motivate each other to write the stories they always said they were going to. It has continued to grow over the past 15 years and is now an international event with local chapters hosting kick off parties, write-ins, and post NaNo parties.

NaNo is a very intense undertaking and will take some serious discipline if I am going to get through it. The idea is that you write each day to have a 50,000 first draft at the end of the month. This works out to 1,667 words a day which anyone who has written a term paper with a word count requirement knows is not easy. The idea is to write everyday and pay no attention to the details of critiquing. It may be terrible, you may cut half of it afterwards but the goal is to get words on paper and your ideas flowing.

What I find most interesting about NaNo is that the founders and participants alike are treating writing as a social activity. I always approached writing as a small room, introspection but NaNo writers argue that just being in the room with other people who are pursuing the same task you are in motivation. Hearing the keystrokes from someone will keep you focused and even turn on a bit of your competitive juices making you not want to fall behind.

The months after NaNo are where you edit, re-write and complete the overall arc of the story but that pressure is completely ignored for the fast paced writing style of the month. The founders encourage the writers to give themselves permission to suck which is incredibly freeing. They argue that the words on paper, quantity over quality approach actually brings out the best in writers because they allow themselves to write freely. There will be massive edits to do and the 50,000 words will inevitably go off on tangents but you can’t fix something that isn’t written.

For me, I anticipate the hardest part of Nano will be time management. As with any new obligations people first line of resistance is to say they don’t have time but the old adage still stands, you can make time. I make time for all sorts of things I don’t want to do so why not make time for something I love doing and that makes me a better person? Writing is my expression and my outlet for a pent of swirl of intellect, inspiration, emotion, and anxiety that needs to be released. When I write I can think better and be better. I can always find more time for that.

So being a week out from the official kick-off of NaNoWriMo 2014 I am going to commit to a story idea, pre-plot just enough to give me an arc that I build on, and read as much as possible because come November 1 the fingers will be to the keys for at least 1,667 words a day….hopefully!  

If anyone is interested in trying NaNo check out their website is nanowrimo.org. Hey, no one is judging you and there is penalty for not finishing. If nothing else you’ll get some good stress relief for the days you follow through.

If you are participating I’d love a writing buddy, or six! Check out my twitter @taylor3672 and link up, or if you’re local maybe I’ll see you at a write-in.

Good luck to all participating and who knows, maybe your NaNo story could be the next big breakthrough on the NYT bestseller list.