Okay, so the title is just to get your attention.
I signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) after many years of thinking “maybe I should sign up for NaNoWriMo…” and after even more years thinking about writing a novel, short story or whatever.
So. I signed up for NaNoWriMo.
And putting my writing skills to shame, I ripped this straight from the site. Oh the shame. Read.
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, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2008, we had over 120,000 participants. More than 20,000 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.
There you have it.
I don’t know the title of my novel yet, we’ll see, and so far, I’m at a measly 531 words. *sigh* I’ll be posting the updates here, might even release the novel as a free ebook… just speculation mostly.
Interested? Check out the website.
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Rogue FM: India.Arie – Chocolate High (Feat. Musiq Soulchild)
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Offtopic:
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting.”
- Buddha
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
- Jim Rohn
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