National Novel Writing Month
Joyce Fetteroll
Next month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! It's a
challenge started by Chris Baty to produce a 50,000 word novel in
just 30 days, starting November 1 and ending midnight November 30.
http://www.nanowrimo.org
Yes, it's insane and yes, it's a lot of fun :-)
My daughter, Kat (15), and I have done it for the past 2 years.
The great part about NaNoWriMo is that when the goal is to produce
words rather than "good writing" then amazingly creative things flow
out. Well, a lot of junk too! But when you turn off your inner
editor, that little voice that says "No, that's no good, that won't
work," you free yourself up to be more creative.
You can plan -- think up a basic story outline -- but no writing
until Nov 1. (That's in 2 Wednesdays.)
I've done it with no plan 2 years in a row and it's worked out great.
Even had a few hours to spare. ;-) Considering that the novel I've
been picking at for the last 20 years hasn't gotten beyond (it's
embarrassing to say ;-) 100,000 words of notes, actually finishing
something and seeing the ideas flow without being planned was
enlightening to say the least :-)
(When you're done you upload your work to the Nanowrimo word counter
and it automatically counts your words. It's very generous about what
it considers a word. No one reads it. It's just shear number of words.)
The first year we did it we set our goal at 1700 words per day (which
would be 51,000) but some days the writing doesn't flow as well and
some days get very busy (there's Thanksgiving and preparation in
there!) so last year we set our daily goal as 2000 which gave us some
generous padding.
Someone asked me last year how much time it takes and I was hesitant
to say because for us it's a lot. *But* I read Chris Baty's book and
he said it takes 1.5 to 2 hours a day on average. *Most* people are
doing it while holding jobs or going to school so that's all the time
they can give it. So the answer to how much time is that it will take
us much time as you give it, basically! If you give it all day, it
takes all day. If you only have 2 hours, it takes 2 hours.
Joyce
challenge started by Chris Baty to produce a 50,000 word novel in
just 30 days, starting November 1 and ending midnight November 30.
http://www.nanowrimo.org
Yes, it's insane and yes, it's a lot of fun :-)
My daughter, Kat (15), and I have done it for the past 2 years.
The great part about NaNoWriMo is that when the goal is to produce
words rather than "good writing" then amazingly creative things flow
out. Well, a lot of junk too! But when you turn off your inner
editor, that little voice that says "No, that's no good, that won't
work," you free yourself up to be more creative.
You can plan -- think up a basic story outline -- but no writing
until Nov 1. (That's in 2 Wednesdays.)
I've done it with no plan 2 years in a row and it's worked out great.
Even had a few hours to spare. ;-) Considering that the novel I've
been picking at for the last 20 years hasn't gotten beyond (it's
embarrassing to say ;-) 100,000 words of notes, actually finishing
something and seeing the ideas flow without being planned was
enlightening to say the least :-)
(When you're done you upload your work to the Nanowrimo word counter
and it automatically counts your words. It's very generous about what
it considers a word. No one reads it. It's just shear number of words.)
The first year we did it we set our goal at 1700 words per day (which
would be 51,000) but some days the writing doesn't flow as well and
some days get very busy (there's Thanksgiving and preparation in
there!) so last year we set our daily goal as 2000 which gave us some
generous padding.
Someone asked me last year how much time it takes and I was hesitant
to say because for us it's a lot. *But* I read Chris Baty's book and
he said it takes 1.5 to 2 hours a day on average. *Most* people are
doing it while holding jobs or going to school so that's all the time
they can give it. So the answer to how much time is that it will take
us much time as you give it, basically! If you give it all day, it
takes all day. If you only have 2 hours, it takes 2 hours.
Joyce