NaNoWriMo

[Kevin]

So I'm back, and now I'm going to stop acting like an [wagon] and start acting like the real me.. but out of all ten real me's, I can't decide which one to pick.

 

Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone else knows about this and is attempting it:

 

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.

 

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

 

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, andwhen the thing is donethe kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

 

In 2009, we had over 165,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

 

So, to recap:

 

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.

 

1.) Sign up for the event by clicking the "Sign Up Now" link at the top of the site. It's right there above "National."

 

2.) Check your email and read the ginormous email our noveling robots send you. It will have "Love" in the subject line, and may be hiding in your Junk folder.

 

3.) Log into your account and use the links on the My NaNoWriMo page to set your timezone, affiliate with a region, and tell us a little bit about yourself.

 

4.) Begin procrastinating by reading through all the great advice and funny stories in the forums. Post some stories and questions of your own. Get excited. Get nervous. Try to rope someone else into doing this with you. Eat lots of chocolate and stockpile noveling rewards.

 

5.) On November 1, begin writing your novel. Your goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by midnight, local time, on November 30th. You write on your own computer, using whatever software you prefer.

 

6.) This is not as scary as it sounds.

 

7.) Starting November 1, you can update your word count in that box at the top of the site, and post excerpts of your work for others to read. Watch your word-count accumulate and story take shape. Feel a little giddy.

 

8.) Write with other NaNoWriMo participants in your area. Write by yourself. Write. Write. Write.

 

9.) If you write 50,000 words of fiction by midnight, local time, November 30th, you can upload your novel for official verification, and be added to our hallowed Winners Page and receive a handsome winners certificate and web badge. We'll post step-by-step instructions on how to scramble and upload your novel starting in mid-November.

 

10.) Win or lose, you rock for even trying.

 

That's all there is to it! Occasionally, participants write in to ask about the rules of the event. We don't have many! But because we've found that creativity is often heightened by constraints (and communities bolstered by shared goals) we have evolved a handful of rules over the years. The rules state that, to be an official NaNoWriMo winner, you must

 

Write a 50,000-word (or longer!) novel, between November 1 and November 30.

Start from scratch. None of your own previously written prose can be included in your NaNoWriMo draft (though outlines, character sketches, and research are all fine, as are citations from other people's works).

Write a novel. We define a novel as a lengthy work of fiction. If you consider the book you're writing a novel, we consider it a novel too!

Be the sole author of your novel. Apart from those citations mentioned two bullet-points up.

Write more than one word repeated 50,000 times.

Upload your novel for word-count validation to our site between November 25 and November 30.

 

If you want more info, search NaNoWriMo on Google. My novel will be about world domination to a superior being. You probably already know who it will be, but.. yeah.

[Alg]

The first was 4 days ago. Otherwise, sounds fun.

[Kevin]

Yes, so anyone entering now will have to work at an average pace of 2000 words per day.

[Askthedude]

So they gather up all the stories, wait a couple of years and then sell them off in millions of books of short stories. Sounds like a great way to make money, why didn't I think of this earlier... :unsure:

[The Runar]

I'm trying this, I'm not sure if I can write 50,000 words or not but the current lenght (~6,000 words) is already much longer than anything I've written before :)

[Racheya]

Tried it once and failed, quite a few years back. I managed Script Frenzy though, a screenplay sort-of-version of NaNo.

 

Tbh I'd give it a vague attempt again but I have enough on my plate with University.

[Dupin]

Tried it once and failed, quite a few years back. I managed Script Frenzy though, a screenplay sort-of-version of NaNo.

 

Tbh I'd give it a vague attempt again but I have enough on my plate with University.

Same, I could write 2000 words a day if it weren't for the fact that I already have a ton of random essays for school, plus I like having a life.

[Skull]

I can't balance this and a creative writing class. Maybe I'll do it someday.

[KittyKat]

Yeah, 1776 words per day can be annoying at times but in the end, writing a novel is just awesome.

[Alg]

I can't balance this and a creative writing class. Maybe I'll do it someday.

Next year for me. I can barely manage 500 words per sitting, let alone the 2,000 I'll need.

[Saru Inc]

I'm up to 37,000 words. I'm writing a novel on someone who copy and pasted a bunch of wikipedia articles. To add a twist, as well as a form of realism, I copy and pasted the wikipedia articles into the book. I also have 7 pictures, which by themselves is like 7,000 words.

[Dupin]

I'm up to 37,000 words. I'm writing a novel on someone who copy and pasted a bunch of wikipedia articles. To add a twist, as well as a form of realism, I copy and pasted the wikipedia articles into the book. I also have 7 pictures, which by themselves is like 7,000 words.

I believe you have started a new genre. Have an internet, on the house.

[Orpheus]

Yes, so anyone entering now will have to work at an average pace of 2000 words per day.

All things considered, it's not too bad. If you're inventive, you could come up with an awesome and hilarious story. By the end, it'd be a matter of trying to figure out what NOT to keep.

[stevepole]

I always know a couple people who try this every year, but I'm not sure how many of them actually finish. I know I would never have the patience to write 50,000 words. I could do a screenplay, that'd be pretty easy.