Each year in November, a thing happens.
This thing is called NaNoWriMo, or the even shorter nickname of Nano or NaNo. This is short for National Novel Writing Month.
The challenge of NaNo is to write 50000 words of a novel over the course of the 30 days of November. It doesn’t have to be a complete novel, unless you like them short and sweet. One year I didn’t so much write a novel as the over-story and back-story to a series I’ve been working on.
50000 words in 30 days is very doable. It breaks down to a mere 1667 words per day. One year, and over the course of about 6-7 hours, I wrote about 7500 words. Yes, it was a long haul, but it was worth it. (It also helped me catch up on a few days I lost and counted towards a few days ahead too.) People do a variety of things for Nano. Some people begin with a blank page, with no specific thought in mind and will see what falls onto that [age. Others will star with a broad of idea of what they want to write. Others again, like myself, will have an outline of what they want to write.
Now, depending on the medium they choose to write in will determine if they have a word count before November 1 or not. I can be pedantic and a bit of a perfectionist – be quiet those who know me and stop laughing. I go so far as to keep a spread sheet to help me with the daily word count. I do this because I often have more than an outline to work on.
Take my work for this year’s Nano (2018). I’m working on an existing piece but due to the work I did in 2016 with the over-story and back-story I needed to make changes. Also, the location of my story has changed, along with the physical characteristics of that setting. I now have a significant portion of story that needs to be rewritten. This will make up the challenge for this year.
Non-writers, what do you do with an obsessed writer? (No, not all of us are obsessed, possessed or some other -essed.) Allow the writer time and space to write. Support them in whatever way you can. Parents: – once they have completed any homework and chores, leave them be. Spouses: – cook dinner; get the kids ready for bed; take the kids out for a few hours (if it’s possible); or whatever you feel is needed. Children: – do not pester your parents, for a change; voluntarily do your chores; help with getting dinner ready; drive yourself (of legal driving age) to training/dance/music. Singles: – well, you only have yourself to blame if the house is a pigsty because you have the freedom to write when you want to. I could keep going with a whole lot more categories, but I think you get the idea.
The other thing non-writers can do is donate. Yes, there’s that ugly concept, money. The NaNo organisation is a not-for-profit bunch and rely heavily on donations. The majority of the donations do of course come from the writers themselves, but that doesn’t mean a non-writer can’t donate. Go to the NaNo website if you want to understand better – https://nanowrimo.org/why-donate. If you’re ready to donate, then go to – https://store.nanowrimo.org/collections/donate.
Those who participate in NaNo will seem remote throughout the month of November. Leave them be and when it comes to December, you’ll have them back.
To you Wrimos (yea, another nickname), don’t stop at 50000, keep going until November 30 and beyond. Your novel is as long as it is.
Happy writing.
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