NaNoWriMo

[Bonnie]

Has anyone else heard of or done NaNoWriMo before? It's a month-long novel writing challenge. You're supposed to start a 50,000 word novel on November 1st and finish by November 30th (they don't read it, so it doesn't have to be all wrapped up and edited by then, you just have to have hit 50k by then.) The idea is to get people writing quickly so their "inner editor" doesn't take over and cause writer's block. I love that part because I normally get WAY perfectionist and never end up writing anything.

Several friends and I all signed up together. They have great forums too, with lots of writers supporting each other and helping with research and things, and regional forums for people to arrange meetups. And there are a lot of teens there (including several homeschoolers), so for any youth unschoolers who like to write, it would be a great place to make friends.

Anyone else thinking of doing it? :)

[Katherine]

Excuses excuses. I have a 5 year old and can't see myself having the clarity of mind and quiet to take the challenge.

But yes I've heard of NaNoWriMo. Can't remember where from. Probably Joyce Fetteroll.

Cool, Bonnie. Thanks for posting this. Hopefully others will be inspired to go for it!
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[Candy Cook]

Totally awesome. Thanks for sharing.. I have felt this story bubbling up inside of me and was just letting it kind of simmer before beginning. This is the perfect opportunity.. I, too, am a writing perfectionist and it REALLY SUCKS to try to write your final draft on the first round LOLOL

[Joni Zander]

I've attempted this twice. The first time fairly seriously. I do really wish the support was available during a less intense month travel-wise.

The first time I tried, I had company sleeping in my office for a week - so no access to my computer. I still did about 37000 words, though. It was a great exercise. I did it to get over the need to be perfect while writing and it certainly did help that! I was amazed at the fresh ideas I had spill out of my brain - ideas to solve real problems. I must say my "book" was BAD, though. Way too many characters - I had to keep track of them on a sheet of paper next to my computer - too confusing. Now I know why the characters of books end up tied up in a little bow -relationship-wise.

The second time, I ended up ditching it after about 10000 words and starting my blog - making my writing public.

I'll probably try to do NaNoBloMo this time around. I could use an excuse to concentrate on my blog for a month!

Good luck with your Novel!

[Joyce Fetteroll]

Yes, Kat and I have both done NaNoWriMo before. The Young Writers Program looks good too, shooting for more modest word counts.

It's a lot of fun :-) Doing it before Kat was ready to participate would have been hard since my stories tend to consume my consciousness ;-) but it's been great doing it together. (Having a supportive husband who thinks the idea is cool is also helpful.)

Chris Baty, who started the idea, said on average it takes 1-1.5 hours in the evening. I seriously question that and maybe it's not counting catchup weekends! but, then again, most people who do it have jobs or go to school so most people don't have a huge amount of time. What I do know from experience is that it will expand to fill whatever time you give it. So if you give it all day, it will take all day. Lots of people get up an hour early to get a good chunk of writing in.

If anyone wants to add me as a writing buddy, I think if you go to my page, it will have an "add as buddy" button.

I do some writing prompts centered around NaNoWriMo during November on Dragon Writing Prompts. There are also past tips if you click on NaNoWriMo on the right hand side. Of course there's loads and loads and loads of stuff at the NaNoWriMo forums.

[Candy Cook]

I added you as buddy on Nanowrimo.. my UN is raisingexplorers.

I am thinking of the story I wish to write.. and I am needing a lot of good creative unique ideas for helping kids connect & discover the history they are interested in. Can any of you link me up to any good unschooling blogs who've posted ways to share interest in historical events - such as the American Revolution or the Holocaust. I'm going to be searching the net for ideas on how to help kids discover what they want to know about things like this. Thanks! :D

[Becki]

I'm going to do it too! I just have to sign up...

[Sarah RIttmeyer]

I haven't. . .but my kids LOVE IT! and I am hoping that when they don't need as much support (they are 7 and 8 and they elected me as the official typer-inner ) then it will be my turn. The kids section allows them to set their own word count goals too- which is what drew my boys in- they set lofty goals and sometimes make it sometimes not-the glory about NaNoWriMo is that you are supported and celebrated either way. I highly recommend it!

[Frank Maier]

My wife and both my daughters have done it. My younger daughter even "practiced" for it by doing her own nanowrimo the month before the actual nanowrimomonth - 100K words in two months. Phew! Me, I take several days to compose a 500-word blog post so the speed component alone makes me uninterested.

[Frank Maier]

Ok. I know this thread is from 2008 but I'm bumping it for 2010. I talked myself into signing up for nanowrimo, even though I plan to not achieve 50K words and not finish my "novel." If ya wanna be nanowrimo buddies, I'm signed up under my e-mail alias and alter ego "PVMaro" (for Publius Virigilius Maro) and my working title is "The Eastern Legion."

Because my long-standing personal process is to write, edit, rewrite, then iterate those steps a whole buncha times, I'm using nanowrimo to help me let go of that merciless inner editor. Can I crank out a coupla thousand words in a day AND move on, without revisiting that material several times? We'll see.

Frank, who will never be Philip K. Dick

[Alice]

One of my friends did this last year and is planning to do it again, but I haven't done it. I would really like to, but I don't think I can find an hour in the day to myself! Maybe when the kids are a little older. I could be using them as my cop-out...maybe I should just start it and see how it goes? Good luck to everyone who does it. The last time I wrote something that wasn't in a journal was 7 years ago, that isn't a good sign. ;)

[Denise Rodriguez]

I did NaNoWriMo in 2007. It was probably the most grueling month of my life, but so, so worth it. When I wrote my 50,000th word, just hours before the deadline on the last day, I broke down and sobbed like a baby.

Writing that novel is one of my proudest accomplishments, and I'm not sure I ever would have done it otherwise. I dug it out the other day, and it's pretty damn good. :) It has possibilities. Too bad there's no such thing as EditAndReWriMo.

I don't think I would ever subject my poor family to that month of craziness again, but I highly recommend that every aspiring novelist do it at least once. I can't tell you much better it is to have written a novel than to dream of writing one someday.

[Joyce Fetteroll]

*** Too bad there's no such thing as EditAndReWriMo. ***

Ah, but there is!

NaNoEdMo

It's a 50 hour commitment during March to edit your novel. :-) There's a sign up on the front page to get a reminder.