NANOWRIMO. Today, November 30, is the end of NANOWRIMO, National Novel Writing Month, which takes place every November.The event has its own website. The challenge, if you accept it, is to write a 50,000 word novel, starting on November 1 and completing it by November 30. The website proclaims that NANOWRIMO values “enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft,” and says, “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.” In 2006, there were over 79,000 participants and almost 13,000 completed the challenge. My daughter Annalisa has completed NANOWRIMO for three straight years. Maybe you should think about doing NANOWRIMO next year.
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I really can’t recommend NaNoWriMo heartily enough. Published writers use it as a kickstart for stalled projects or beginning new ones they aren’t sure about–or just for fun. People from all walks of life (well, all walks of life that involve Internet access) participate in all different ways. Busy parents take part, hiding in the bathroom to write if necessary. Cubicle warriors hastily scribble away while in boring meetings. Students from graduate school all the way down to elementary school (yes, there was a class of first-graders participating this year!) eagerly commit words to paper. It’s a very exciting month and well worth the effort, in my opinion. And if you write at a medium pace, you can get the 1,667 words per day written in a little more than an hour. NaNoWriMo has done much to alleviate my perfectionist tendencies and increase my confidence as a writer.
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