Tao of Pauly

NaNoWriMo

What is NaNoWriMo? NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month.

Jessica sent me the link to NaNoWriMo and encouraged me to sign up and particpate. I decided to go ahead and give it a shot, so now I have a new project to work on the next 30 or so days. So far, Jessica and Dave Simanoff have both signed up and are beginning to write their November Novels. I started mine late last night at Midnight.

The working title for my November Novel is: Jack Tripper Stole My Dog.

This is from the NaNoWriMo website:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel
writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a
175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, NaNoWriMo is a
novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing
a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in
NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze
approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the
fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing.
By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself
permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and
just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all
around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going
through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel.
Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and
-- when the thing is done -- the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to
frighten animals and small children.

Last year, we had 5000 participants. Over 700 of them crossed the 50k finish
line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo
superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work
actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as
well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's
most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality.
To be able to make obscure references to passages from your novel at
parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far
longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: Writing begins November 1, 2002. To be added to the official list of
winners, the 50,000-word mark must be reached by November 30 at midnight.
Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word
counters, the partying begins.