Today, as those of you feverishly attacking your keyboards know all too well, marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. Every year, during the month of November, thousands of people band together for a common cause: to write a novel over the course of what is surely the second-hardest month of the year. That so many achieve this goal — quality be damned! — is a testament to the human desire to create.
For those of you who choose to participate (and I won’t be one — plates can only hold so much), the goal is to completed a 50,000 word novel by November 30. Seems easy enough, right? But NaNoWriMo is about more than writing; it is about accomplishing your dream. It’s also about connecting with others who share your dream.
Anyone who has ever conceived and completed a novel will tell you that it’s not as easy as it looks on TV (though, apparently, those writers will have some time to complete their novels as well). Writing requires discipline, courage, time, and even a strong dose of insanity. Stringing words together in a semi-coherent way is the easy part. Good punctuation and spelling are important, sure, but they do not make a novel.
So good luck to those who take the challenge. Doing it is the first part of doing it. Keeping on doing it is the second part. Joining the NaNoWriMo frenzy is easy. Just follow the link below.
* – Impossible only because brevity is not part of my soul.
3 responses so far ↓
Susan G. // Nov 2, 2007 at 8:25 am
You call that brief? Sheesh. Brif would have been:
NaNoWriMo – go forth and write.
Joseph Devon // Nov 2, 2007 at 10:40 am
“Writing requires discipline, courage, time, and even a strong dose of insanity.”
I’m pretty sure I’d place that last one much higher up on the list.
Misti // Nov 10, 2007 at 8:45 am
^ What Mr. Devon said. I’ve taken to introducing myself around school as being probably (more than?) a little insane, since insanity and artistry seem to go together. People’s responses to that are quite fun.
I did find my mind saddled with an unexpected story idea that I’ve decided to make my unofficial (and few days’ late) NaNoWriMo entry. For once I actually have a story idea that’s straightforward and comparatively easy to write.
(“Not easy” would include writing from a paranoid character’s perspective, using an oblivious 13-year-old to convey a story about a woman with PPD, or a dually framed narrative with enough necessary backstory to make the scene ordering a nightmare.)