Milwaukee Writers Unite for National Novel Writing Month

November 4, 7:33 AMMilwaukee Books ExaminerStephanie Wade

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NaNoWriMo

November 1 marked the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, encouraging upward of 150,000 writers from 90 countries to participate in 30 straight days of what the non-profit organization of Oakland, California calls literary abandon. In order to achieve success, participants must write 50,000 words by 11:59 p.m. on November 30, 2009.

The metro Milwaukee area alone boasts 212,521 participants and ranked 90th out of 484 regions on word count after the first day of writing.

Established in 1999 by NaNoWriMo is the largest writing contest in the world. More than 30 novelists have published their NaNo contest writing into a novel, including Sarah Gruen, New York Times Best Selling writer of "Water for Elephants."

"The 50,000 word challenge has a wonderful way of opening your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else." says NaNoWriMo Founder and Program Director Chris Baty. "When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it's a great excuse for not doing dishes for a month."

The NaNoWriMo website, www.nanowrimo.org hosts a wealth of information from personal statistics for each participant, to tips to making it through the month.

The Milwaukee-Waukesha chapter will hosts its first "Write-In" session at Borders Cafe in Greendale at Southridge Mall on Saturday, November 7 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information on NaNoWriMo, visit www.nanowrimo.org.