We’re halfway through October now, which means that November is getting pretty close now. This also means that one of my favourite events, NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. I discovered this event back in 2011 and I haven’t missed a year since. Today, in honour of this amazing challenge, I’m going to talk about NaNoWriMo and explain what it is, why I love doing it, and why you should think about giving it a try.
What is NaNoWriMo?
National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a month long writing event run during November where crazy writers around the world come together online to write together, fuelled by determination, a love of writing, and way too much coffee. The aim? To have a finished novel, or 50k words of a novel written by the end of the month.
Who can do it?
Anyone. Literally. It’s free, and there’s no age limit on creativeness. For teens and children, there’s a young writer’s program where you get to set your own word goal. For those 13 and up, there’s the full NaNoWriMo, all 50k glorious words of it. I’ve done it. My mum’s done it. My little sister won the Young Writer’s Program for the first time at age 7. Anyone can have a go.
Why do I do it?
NaNoWriMo is one of the biggest writing events ever. There are literally hundreds of thousands of writers writing at the very same time as me, all racing for the same goal, which is amazing. There are pep talks, bucket loads of motivation to write, and pledge to write for an entire month. I simply can’t resist a good challenge like this. NaNoWriMo is an amazing way to get your first draft on the page without worrying about it being perfect. Writing at that speed, your book isn’t going to be perfect. But it will be written.
Why should you do it?
Because it’s the best writing challenge I’ve seen so far. It’ll motivate you to write every day and finish a book. You’ll be writing with people in a social event (you can go solo, but it’s way more fun if you do it with other people). You will be pushed to dedicate yourself to your writing for an entire month. And it will be great for your book. You’ll make so much progress you won’t believe it.
Of course, NaNoWriMo is not for everyone. Some people write better when they work at their own pace. But if you like challenges, if you want to try something new, or you just want to make good progress with your book, you should definitely think about giving this a go.
NaNoWriMo 2014. I’m doing it. Are you?
Have you ever done NaNoWriMo before? Will you be doing it this year? If so, what are you planning on writing? If not, would you ever consider doing something like this?
I'm thinking about doing it this year *-* but I'm a little worried D: this would be my first time and I've never found an idea I could stick with long enough to write a book about...
ReplyDeleteSigning up for NaNoWriMo might be a good way to try and motivate yourself to stick with an idea. Once you're into the craziness of the month and trying to keep up with a daily word count, there's not much time to think about changing it. I find personally that having to work so hard actually inspires me more, but it might work differently for you. You should definitely sign up and have a try though. Even if you don't win (which I am totally sure you will) it's so much fun.
DeleteI have never ever done Nano, but I'm so DOING IT this year!! I AM. I keep nearly writing my book early though.... oops. I have an epic pinterest board and I've written like a 4K outline. Which I'm really happy about! I love the story and my characters and asdfjakdlsa I just want to write it now. lol! But I'll be a patient grasshopper.
ReplyDeleteDo we get to hear about your project? :)
You are going to rock NaNo. I'm half expecting to hear that you've won it inside five days. I know what you mean about wanting to write your book early. I'm having to write something else this month to distract myself. Keep going patient grasshopper! It's only another two weeks.
DeleteHopefully. If I ever get organised enough to try and write a blurb and such for it. I'm all over the place at the moment. I'd love to hear more about your project too1
I've done Nano approximately once... And I haven't done it since. It's a great time for other writers to get stuff going, but in many ways I simply do not need it to succeed as a writer. I'm doing my own version, which will take place in December when there's less homework and three weeks of Christmas Break to help balance my load. :)
ReplyDeleteNaNoWriMo definitely isn't for everyone. You sound like you have yourself together as a writer already. As long as you know what works for you, that's the main thing. Besides, holding off until December and holidays sounds like a much more sensible idea. Good luck with your writing in December.
DeleteI've never done this before! I knew it existed, but I'm not quite sure on how to join and it's all a bit confusing for me... but I will try this year!
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