Some of you might be thinking, "What in the heck is NaNoWriMo?" It's National Novel Writing Month.If you're a writer, you've been excited and shaking in your slippers for the last two weeks. Most especially if you're brave enough to join the NaNoWriMo Challenge -
Write 50,000 words in one month.
This challenge entails giving up things like vacuuming and clean bathrooms. It means no more home cooked meals, unless they are of the Crock Pot variety - with the exception of Thanksgiving, of course. But even then, we writers are chomping at the bit for the next day to begin so we can get back to our novel and the characters who are begging to come to life. Not to mention that Thanksgiving always seems to land right in the middle of a major conflict, discovery, or other major turning point. So annoying.
NaNoWriMo challenge participants begin the month with a gleam of anticipation shining from their eyes. Then by mid-month, they're bleary-eyed, high on caffeine (my beverage of choice is Cherry Vanilla Coke from Sonic), and doing hand exercises to ease finger cramps. And we write. Write, write, write, write, and write some more. It's truly a word binge - one of my friends calls it her novel vomit. We just get the story out. No editing, no going back to add scenes to make the story flow better. Just write a note and keep going until you hit the finish line.
Midnight.
November 30th.
50,000 words.
November 30th.
50,000 words.
Once we pass the deadline, we writers close up shop. We're content with knowing we either finished our novel or made a whole lot of progress towards completing it. Then we set it aside while we enjoy the holidays with our families - Christmas concerts, school and family parties, wrapping, decorating, nativity scenes, and sharing our love of the season with our children, family, and friends.
One whole month to recover, and build us up before January 1st hits and we start on our New Year's Resolution - to get our novels completed, edited, and out to our publishers or agents ASAP. It's such an awesome way to end one year, then begin another.
Come join us. www.NaNoWriMo.org
