November Is National Novel Writing Month

November is the annual national write-a-novel-in-a-month contest, sometimes "simplified" to NaNoWriMo. Since it is now November 15, it appears I'm not participating--maybe next year!

For me, this month of November is TomNovPubNovMo: Tom's November Publish a Novel Month. I might just make it, too. My beta readers are on the job, and I'm well along with the cover of Love Ya Like a Sister.

The official site of NaNoWriMo says this about the contest:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

The official site also uses the good old 5W questions to provide more information:

NaNo in a Nutshell

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Where: You write wherever you’d like. On your computer, on your iPad, on a typewriter---anywhere is fine, just as long as you’re writing! For a more in-depth NaNoWriMo overview, visit the devilishly handsome "What is NaNoWriMo?"and "How NaNoWriMo Works" pages.

 The official site includes a blog, "The Office of Letters and Light," and a place to donate, things to buy, and lots of interactive and supportive places to go. This is important because there are no prizes or gizmos--just a community of writers engaged in writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

This site also describes a Young Writers Program. In 2009, over 35,000 students participated.

If you are currently in the middle of write-your-rear-off novel month, take 30 seconds and write a comment. If you've participated in the past, you may give yourself more time to respond.

Copyright 2010 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved