Week One of NaNoWriMo

Week One of NaNoWriMo

“All write, all write, all write.”

Welcome to NaNoWriMo! What is NaNoWriMo you ask? It’s National Novel Writing Month, the annual challenge to write a novel to in 30 days. You can pick any 50,000 words to put in any order and tell a story.

This is supposed to be fun, so have fun! Seriously, writing a novel is a very personal activity. You write on your own. You create a whole new world and populate it with characters you create. If you are going to make the effort, enjoy it. 

Here are some pointers before we embark on this challenge in an effort keep this fun.

* Writing is work. It can be fun and rewarding, but it can also frustrating and difficult.

* If you are not spending time every day already writing, you are not trained to produce a 50,000 word manuscript. Don’t get frustrated. You cannot expect to run a marathon without training, so do not expect to sit down and master novel writing without any prior experience.

* Write for you! The first reader of your novel is you! It has to be entertaining to you; it has to keep you engaged so you finish it.

* Don't get stuck on the 50,000 word length. If you just want to take 30 days to write a 5,000 word short story, go for it! If you want to take the 30 days to write a 25,000 word novella, excellent! Write what you want to write. (If you can finish a first draft in 30 days you will be doing great!)

* The main tool to writing is discipline. It is the ability to sit down and write. Some days the words might come easy and some days they might not. But to sit down, even for 30 minutes a day and produce something, whether you throw it out the next day or not, is a huge accomplishment.

* Don't get stuck on the technology of writing. A laptop will help you put your words in a form that can be saved, but a laptop will not help you write your story. There are tools to make the job of writing easier to finish, but don't get lost in the technology. Writing is about stringing words together, regardless of the tools you use to accomplish that.

* Don't worry about making it perfect. I know people who have never produced anything more than a handful of chapters that they keep writing and re-writing. Perfect does not exist. Strive to complete it. That is goal, to get it completed, not perfect.

What are you waiting for? Let's get those pencils and pens dancing across the blank pages and the keyboards tapping away. Create characters, make them breath life, and give them an adventure to live.

You can do this!