If it's November, it's National Novel Writing Month!

What is National Novel Writing Month? Well, most of us call it NaNoWriMo, or just NaNo if we’re in a hurry. NaNoWriMo is a month long tour de force of writing. It’s a “nonprofit literary crusade that encourages aspiring novelists from all over the world to write” a novel in a month. Participants set a goal of 50,000 words and write like the dickens from November 1 to midnight November 30th.

Because of the one month window, quantity is king here, not quality. Quality is editing and that isn’t allowed during NaNoWriMo. In November, type as fast as you can, as much as you can, every day. The goal of 50,000 words breaks down into 175 pages, or about 1,667 words a day minimum. It’s best not to slack off the minimum and highly recommended to splurge far beyond whenever possible, because there are always “those days” that life intrudes and our focus is diverted. But persevere!

How does one participate in NaNoWriMo?

It’s easy. You can do it on your own, or you can register at the official National Novel Writing Month website. Registering is free and allows you to be awarded a “badge” when you complete the 50,000 NaNoWriMo goal.
Starting November 1, you can update your word count in a box at the top of their website and post excerpts of your work for others to read. Watch your word count accumulate and your story take shape. It’s really fun not to worry about editing, and just get the words down.

When you finish your 50,000 words by midnight November 30th, you can upload your novel (it may be a partial with only 50,000 words, but that’s a lot!) for official verification, and be added to their Winner’s Page and receive a handsome winner’s certificate and web badge. The website will have step-by-step instructions on uploading your novel by mid-November.

Be sure to start from scratch. No previously written prose allowed. However, you can do some plotting, character sketching, outlining, researching, etc. You can prepare, but save the actual writing for November 1st.

There’s even a NaNoWriMo handbook. Founder Chris Baty wrote No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days. Inside this book, he spells out the secrets of writing and finishing a novel. He offers week-by-week overviews, strategies, anecdotes, and success stories from previous NaNoWriMo winners to inspire writers to complete their goal. Even if you aren’t doing NaNoWriMo this year, Blaty’s book is a fun read.

Who participates in NaNoWriMo?

To be glib, I could say, just about every writer I know. Just about. This year, I will be participating, trying to finish the first draft of a contemporary fantasy. Last year, I wrote a science fiction dimension traveler story. Most of my writer friends are participating and many of them are repeat NaNo-ers like me.

I asked around the web, on Yahoo! Groups I’m on and on Twitter and Facebook for some NaNo stories and author Toni Andrews was kind enough to reply. I know Toni from Twitter and from NYCWriters@Yahoogroups.com. Toni is the author of Beg for Mercy: Mercy Hollings, Book 1, Angel of Mercy: Mercy Hollings, Book 2, and Cry Mercy which was released June 2 this year by Mira.

Toni has been NaNoing enthusiastically since 2005. She says she loves how we use “NaNo” as a verb. She made the goal of 50,000 words 3 out of 4 years. Last year she got caught up in a non-writing project.

When I asked her if she had completed the 50k words, she said, “'My 05, '06 & '07 projects all made it into published works. In fact, my May 2008 Mira Books release, Angel of Mercy, was a very lightly
revised version of my '06 Nano brook. Even though it was never finished, my '08 effort made it into a proposal that is currently making publisher rounds.”

Toni says she’s not great at rough drafts—she tends to agonize to omuch over early drafts when she should just be getting it on the page. NaNo helps her with that. She said, “. I just got a contract for three (as yet unwritten) books from Silhouette Nocturne, and my first one is due on January 15th. I'm hoping to use Nano to get a draft done, so that I can then spend the rest of the time before the deadline revising.”

Toni enjoys the “write ins”, where people gather and write their novels in the company of other NaNo-ers.Sometimes, write ins are all night affairs, but usually, write ins meet at a local pub, library, or bookstore, socialize and write. NaNoWriMo gatherings are usually conducted by an “ML” or Meeting Liason and you can probably find one in your area on the website.

Toni says, “It's hard to goof off when surrounded by a bunch of other people, all writing like demons.” Toni would absolutely recommend NaNo WriMo to other writers.

Who are some other NaNoWriMo authors? There’s a whole list on the NaNoWriMo website, but here’s a few just to get your interested:

• Sara Gruen-author of Water for Elephants
• Kalanya-Nicole Price-Once Bitten, No. 1 on the Fictionwise Dark Fantasy list in Feb. 2009
• Catherine Wade-Another Time Around
• Lani Diane Rich-Time Off for Good Behavior

There’s even a Young Writers Program , where participants who are 17 years old or younger have a more reasonable, yet challenging, word count goal they set for themselves. There’s a chart provided whre suggested word counts are broken down by grade level. These work especially well for teachers who are incorporating creative writing into their curriculum.
Are you ready to join the thousands of participants in NaNoWriMo?
Thousands, yes, thousands. In 2008, 119,301 people participated in NaNoWriMo and 21,683 “won”. There are 500 official NaNoWriMo chapters around the world. Even schools got intot he act, with over 500 schools K-12 participating. All totaled, over a million and a half words were officially logged in 2008.

The 11th annual National Novel Writing Month is only a few days away. Are you game?

Log onto the National Novel Writing Month website or the Young Writers Program for NaNoWriMo and get started!