Good luck and well wishes to any pub patron who might be participating in National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo.
For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo started way back in 1999 as a project designed to simply get people writing creatively. The goal is to write 50000 words all in the month of November for a novel or a novel to be completed later. Participants cannot use previously written material or co-author works, although they can do preparatory work like outlines or plot or character ideas. The focus is simply on writing, quantity before quality. Editing is encouraged after the contest, not during.
Our own Blogengamot member Library Lily is participating this year. She blogs about it on her site.
So, here’s a question for you all: Have you participated in NaNoWriMo before? Ever thought of doing so? If you write, what sort of writing do you do? And again good luck to anyone who is now madly writing away for the rest of November!
Joivre on 
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Didn’t know about NaNoWriMo.
Did anyone know that November is also Movember?
I’m participating in NaNo this year. I’ve never done it before, though I have written several other novels – just at a much slower pace. I kind of feel like this whole thing is a bit insane, but it should be fun.
This is a great program for young writers! It takes away the awe of starting The Novel. It’s a lot like the symphony for the musician. Growing up, my parents knew the only way to effectively punish me was to lock up the piano. They never had to ask me to practice. But when I got to the Conservatory for my undergrad, I had a prof. who gave us what we considered an impossible task – write a symphony in one month. Practicing is a lot different from composing, and we all freaked out. But wow! After 30 days, we all turned in our symphonies (a lot of them had moments that we will gracefully say will never be added to the western classical music canon) and 12 composers were born. Hopefully, we will have many a new and fantastic novelists as a result of nano. Good luck and have fun!
I’m participating and have a thread in the writer’s groups shouting out to fan fiction alum, if anyone wants to find people with such a history (most commonly Harry Potter). I am under hartjohnson. I’ve written two books and am about a third of the way into the third–I originally intended to be a ‘NaNo rebel’ and continue my work in progress, but I’ve convinced about a dozen people to give it a shot, so I figured I’d go legit on it. It is an incredible rush–it’s not at all the same feel as the regular start up, but there is a pressure build of thinking of your idea for weeks before you are allowed to GO. So far so good!
I also had never heard about this before, but it sounds like fun. Good luck everyone and happy writing!
I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo since 2003, I’ve reached the 50,000 words every year since 2005, but have yet to beat my 2005 record for writing the 50,000 words in the first 12 days. lol.
I usually write fantasy. I love NaNoWriMo, it got me writing my book I’m working on and every year I think I’m getting a little better at it, as far as story quality goes.
NaNoWriMo FTW!
I’ve only known about NaNoWriMo for a year & a half. Haven’t really thought seriously about participating but I did read the founder’s book No Plot; No Problem. Got a No Plot; No Problem writing kit for one of my godchildren which he loved. I probably wouldn’t enter NaNoWriMo because November’s not the best month for me to devote to trying to crank out 50000 words. I spend much of my time preparing for the Advent season in December.
As for personal writing, most of it is spent on writing sermons or articles related to church and theology. I also dabble with haiku and fan fiction, although I’ve never had anything published nor would I probably submit anything; it’s more a personal exercise. At least the fan fiction is. For other writing, well, I post now on The Hogshead, so I guess that counts.
Also, back when I was role-playing, I would write up extensive biographies for my characters. Of course, as Korg would be able to testify, when I did this for Middle-Earth Role-playing, it was an exercise in pain, since the average lifespan of a MERP character was fairly short.
Revgeorge – I love reading Thomas Merton, his book Seven Story Mountain was written during two-hour breaks at the monastery as a personal project. I have such respect for those who write a homily and memorize it every week. You’re writing a couple of novels a year right there.
I’d like to write a novel someday; so far I’ve only toyed with short stories. But I couldn’t possibly write a book in one month. I like to take my time. Good luck to all those participating, though.
Thanks for the shout-out, Revgeorge!
It’s exciting to see that there are other Hog’s Head people participating. Shane Deal, twelve days … impressive! Hart Johnson, it’s great that you’re running a thread on the forums. I heard there were fan fiction writers involved in the program. Amanda, this is my first year too, and for me it’s very much an exercise; normally writing takes me a painfully long time due to extensive self-editing, so it’s gratifying to work so quickly and freely (even if much of it is so shamefully poor in quality that I’d hesitate to sign my name to it).
I came home from Rome with over 10,000 words, so I’m feeling vastly pleased with myself now. We’ll see how long that lasts.