Despite the fact that I’m in the middle of rewrites on my first, I just want everyone to know that I’m still going for it with Nanowrimo this year.
If you don’t know what Nanowrimo is (no, it’s not from Mork and Mindy) then I’ll tell you and maybe you’ll join me this November.
Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it takes place every November. The way it works is like this: a novel can be defined as any piece of prose at least 50,000 words in length… and that’s pretty much it. So Nanowrimo is an organization that stands for pretty much everything I believe in when it comes to creativity – just get out of the way and write.
If you divide 50,000 words by 30 days you get your first Nanowrimo goal: 1666 words per day (that’s like 6 1/2 pages). Of course, there are no rules. You can write 10,000 words every 6 days, or set up a weekly goal, or, like me a 5 day/week schedule, and so on and so forth.
You don’t worry about what you are writing. You don’t agonize over every sentence or cosmic theme. Nanowrimo is just a mad dash towards 50,000 words (that no one reads unless you want them to) with a lot of other people.
I know it doesn’t sound like it, but it’s actually really fun. When you register (it’s free), you hook into a regional group (this thing is global so even if you live in South Africa you can find other Nanowrimo folks), and you all cheer each other on and bond over the insanity that is 50,000 words in 30 days.
If writing a novel under normal conditions is like running the Boston Marathon, Nanowrimo is more like running the Bay-to-Breakers in costume.
"My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal, which bothers some men."
So join me! There is no better way to free yourself from the chains of a critical voice, and at the end of the year, hey, you wrote a novel!
Who cares if it stinks? That’s what rewriting is for.
