In two weeks from tomorrow (that’s November 1st), the literary world will be taken by storm in a massive, annual writing event known as NaNoWriMo. (Nah-No-Wry-Moh — Stands for National Novel Writing Month). For one month, several thousand people (aprox. 120,000 people last year) will write 50,000 words each. It sounds cray, and it is. But it’s the most fun a writer can have while sober and alone.
Last year, I participated with my novel Meet Sam. It was my first attempt at mainstream fiction, and it seems to go have gone down well with everyone who’s read it. Naturally, this pleases me.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to recruit writing buddies and novelists to participate in the event with me (you can now too!) I’ve successfully adopted our own Amy Claire as a novelist for the month, and my friend Sophie has signed up.
Yes, I said adopted. Click this link for more info (opens on a YouTube page, but not a video in itself). At that link I’ll be posting videos about NaNoWriMo, including tips and updates on my own novel through the month.
So, NaNoWriMo in short:
- 30 days
- 50,000 words
- Thousands of writers (46,ooo + at the time of this posting)
- 1666.66 words per day
It may seem difficult. In fact, in a way it kind of is. But I’ve done it before; I can help! I’ll give tips and encouragement to anyone who needs them. I’ll be your writing buddy! It’s easier knowing someone doing it. That’s rule one of NaNoWriMo. Just leave a comment here, or on the Adopting a Novelist video, and I’ll be in touch in return. Simples.
Side note: This year I’m writing a book about a wedding singer (appropriately called The Wedding Singer). It’s set in Dublin and will feature, among some geographical features of my home town, some very true aspects of human life such as sorrow, despair and heart break, as well as all the joys that go along with overcoming such things and making new friends at the same time.
Side note 2: Sorry this post is rubbish – I didn’t have a lot of time to write it.
Side note 3: You can’t say you don’t have time to write. I work six hours every week, I’ll assignments due in, I go to choir every Thursday and have a mass once a month. I have drama twice a week and at least one birthday to attend during the month. All that, and college (and unlike some people, I have a lot of hours!)
Paul Carroll
A W Marsden
sampriestley
Brendan McLoughlin
Paul Begadon
Oct 18, 2009 @ 11:15:51
Signing up was the most stupid idea I ever had, right?
Oct 18, 2009 @ 12:25:09
Absolutely. Why would anyone willingly submit themselves to such abject torture?
Oct 19, 2009 @ 14:08:32
Everyone thinks they can write. Everyone thinks they can write a novel. NaNoWriMo allows ordinary, non-writers to actually go ahead and do it.
Of course, most of the stuff that is written during NaNoWriMo is absolute bollox, and will need months of heavy redrafting and editing to make a decent piece of work. But in general, it is a good idea for honing your skills by dedicating time every day to work to an incredibly strict deadline.
I attempted it last year, and failed miserably. I just cannot force my writing, not to that kind of speed. Some days I can write 3000 words, others I need to edit 3000 words. Other days I manage only a few hundred words and read several chapters of whatever book is on my bedside table. That’s how writing works. To me, NaNoWriMo is a very unnatural way of writing (3000 words every day, without fail, and without edit) and as such I just could not stick to it. So I won’t be taking part again this year.
But good luck to everyone who does, I hope you get something good out of it!