NaNoWriMo

I have spent far too much time staring ponderously at a blank screen or page with hands poised to write, but nothing has ever come from it. Story ideas float around and weave themselves into a mess of ideas and I've never taken the time, or made it past that first hesitation, to write it all out. This year will be different.

National Novel Writing Month, commonly called NaNoWriMo, is every November and anyone who has ever felt like I have should join. The goal is to get as much written down during the month of November; quantity, not quality.

The difficult thing is to get writing and keep writing. I've known many people who have started books and have never been able to finish them (myself, my sister, a handful of my friends, myself, and myself). The idea is, if we can get the basic story written, no matter how bad it is, we have something to work with, edit, revise, etc. So, go write 50,000 words in a month...

I know 50,000 words in a month demands a lot of time, but NaNoers from every year claim it's possible and they offer tricks of the trade to make it happen including forums, write-athons, prizes, parties, etc. Some even published their books and while I can't find an official list of published Wrimos, I found names for several published participants: Stacy Ratner, executive director of Open Books; Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants; and Chris Baty, founder of Nanowrimo and author of No Plot, No Problem, just to name three.

If novels aren't your forte, you could look at Script Frenzy. Their goal is a 100 page screenplay or script within the month of April. For educators, you can host a Young Writers program to encourage your class to write, too.

From the creator Chris Baty: "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."