Stop Dawdling, Get Scribbling

NaNoWriMo director Chris Baty speaks
at the Bay Area Kickoff Party in San Francisco

This month aspiring writer Diane Reese will join thousands of others in a marathon scribbling session that encourages entire novels to be hammered out from scratch by the end of November.

November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, and writers from Cape Town to Cincinnati will commune online while racing to complete 50,000-word novels.

The effort has grown from 21 writers when NaNoWriMo began in 1999 to probably 60,000 this year, and has launched several careers. Seven past winners have sold the books they wrote during the challenge to major publishing houses.

Last year, about 42,000 people entered and 6,000 completed the challenge. And as the NaNoWriMo site points out, "They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists."

To some, the event has been the key to a real writing career.

Lani Diane Rich had tried to write a novel before, to no avail. But late one night in 2002, she impulsively joined NaNoWriMo after hearing about it from friends who had already signed up.

"NaNo helped me shut down that internal editor," Rich said. "After a few days of writing 2,000 words a day, I was just too busy to worry if it was any good or not.... By the time I got toward the end, I was all focused on that 50,000-word goal, and I was very excited to meet it."

After the deadline, encouraged by friends who had read the book, Rich edited and expanded her manuscript, and sent it out to an agent. Not long after, she signed a two-book deal with Warner Books.

Her book, Time Off for Good Behavior, won the RITA for Best First Book at the national RWA conference.
Still, everyone who completes the 50,000 word count is a winner -- even if all they get at the end is a web icon and a certificate. The bigger prize is being able to boast they've completed a whole novel, even if only a first draft.

"It's a contest with yourself," said Reese, an IBM employee from Silicon Valley. "A personal challenge, to jump-start my creativity for the year. I find that spills over into the rest of my life."

Reese said she doesn't expect to become a published author, but the challenge leaves her feeling refreshed and creative.

"I get so much satisfaction out of letting my creativity go, and I love the social aspect on the website," she said.

The aspiring writers often post their work to the NaNoWriMo forums, link to their own websites or blogs, and share their word counts and novel excerpts. Many post progress reports.

Meanwhile, NaNoWriMo is going multimedia. This year, the event is being accompanied by WrimoRadio, a weekly podcast available through iTunes or from the NaNoWriMo site that lets participants hear the experiences of other writers, as well as a psychologist studying writer's block.

One prolific professional novelist thinks the event is a good idea for aspiring writers, even if she doesn't participate herself.

"Putting out six to eight novels a year means every month is like NaNoWriMo for me," said novelist Lynn Viehl. "Most pros write under constant deadlines, and NaNoWriMo's 30-day pressure is excellent practice for the real thing."

In any case, said NaNoWriMo director Chris Baty, quality isn't really the point, at least not at first. "It's OK for the book to suck," said Baty. "Forget about publishing for a while. Stop worrying. Just make your numbers."

Signup for the writing marathon is free. Participants can join until Nov. 25, but the contest ends at midnight Nov. 30, 2005.

[Kathleen Craig / Wired]

National Novel Writing Month Begins

The streets are dark early on Oct. 30 as I rush toward Espresso Roma, construction paper and markers balanced in my arms. It's almost time for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and we're having a kick-off party. That's right, the nearly 20 of us who gather tonight will spend November in pursuit of a mad goal: Each of us will write a novel.

The idea is for each participant to write 50,000 words between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30. NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with a couple of people, including the founder, Chris Baty. The internet has fueled growth. Last year more than 42,000 people across the world registered for the month, and well over 6,000 completed the task.

The final number of registrants isn't in for this year. There's still time to register at www.nanowrimo.org. Baty doesn't turn off registration until Nov. 25.

We still have 30 hours to go before NaNoWriMo begins in the Pacific Northwest, so we gather to plan — high school and college students, several writing teachers and assorted others, ranging in age from 15 to somewhere in the 50s. I know there are others, because 117 people (or more) have signed up in the Eugene area.

One of the Eugene-area newbies asks, "So, say I write my 500 words or whatever …" An experienced WriMo interrupts, "No, no, you need to write 1,667 a day." An awed pause falls over those gathered at pushed-together tables. "Sixteen hundred and sixty-seven words a day?" someone asks. "Well, it's really 5,000 words every three days," I say. "However you do that, it's fine."

With the ugly math behind us, we move on to something more visual. "OK. Take some markers, take some construction paper, and create the cover for your book," I suggest.

Holding up the covers, we talk about our plans. I'm writing a realistic young adult novel (no cheering); a senior will create "something with zombies at South Eugene High School" (cheering). The other YA novel author elicits applause when he mentions, "There will be magic!"

By our 4 pm meeting on Sunday at Triomphe, each of us should have written between 8,333 and 10,000 words. We end with what will be our chant for the month: "Quantity, not quality! Quantity, not quality!"

[SUZI STEFFEN / Eugene Weekly]

It's the write time

And they're off! It's November 1 so it's time for the annual month of madness that is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

The premise is simple but it'll hurt: participants sign up at www.nanowrimo.org, begin writing their masterpiece from scratch from today, share their experiences, absurd caffeine/chocolate intake, and swift breakdown of relationships with everything apart from their wordprocessor, on the site's forums and write like crazy for the next 30 days.

Now in its seventh year, this global write-fest was the brainchild of Chris Baty, a Californian freelance writer, and has grown from 21 participants in 1999 to over 42,000 last year, all trying to meet the 50,000-word finish line by midnight on the last day of the month and make it onto the NaNoWriMo roll of honour. This year, an estimated 60,000 speedwriters are taking part and there are local chapters scattered across the UK, from Brighton to Birmingham.

As Baty says on the website, "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".

In addition to angsting on NaNoWriMo's own forums, the event has also entered the blogosphere, with many Nano's sharing their stories, successes and woes on their online diaries. There are also some nifty bits of tech. Steve Kane's blog sports a "Nanowrimo progress meter" to track his wordcount, while Light from an Empty Fridge is writing a "a web-based NaNoWriMo editor/publisher thing" to ease the job along. Wellyblog, meanwhile, is ever so excited about the new foldout keyboard he has bought in order to take part in NaNoWriMo and claims to have "one hell of a story" lined up.

If close-up pictures of a keyboard don't float your boat, you could take a look at Wongablog instead, where Andrew West has provided a photo of the corner of the spare room in which he'll be penning his masterpiece (using Writely and Firefox 1.0). West has set himself an additional spur to progress: if he fails to reach the 50,000 he will force himself to donate £500 he can ill-afford to an organisation he despises, the Institute of Creation Research.

The pleas for help have started, already. Jamie at Practical Useful provides an outline of his SF NaNoWriMo novel but isn't keen on his title, Star Shot, and is requesting alternative suggestions, while Lee Penney from Southampton is desperately seeking ideas on his blog, The Digerati Peninsula. "I need your help, folks, and I need it fast," he pleads.

Ari Sweeting in Bedfordshire is confessing to feeling left behind already (On the first day?! Oh dear.) because she couldn't start her opus at midnight but is ready to roll down the window of opportunity today between finishing work and the school run, while Graham Binns had already passed the 2% written mark by 50 minutes past midnight with 1,142 words but confesses this morning to feeling "slightly silly" about the whole thing.

Are you taking part this year? How's it going? Are you blogging your progress? Tell us about your masterpiece-in-the-making and link to your NaNoWriMo blog below.

[Michelle Pauli / Guardian Unlimited]

Chris Baty - Founder of www.nanowrimo.org

November is National Novel Writing Month. Why is it National Novel Writing Month? Because in 1999, Bay Area writer Chris Baty decreed it as so. He gathered up 20 of his closest friends and they each wrote a novel in 30 days. This year—seven years later—Baty's "NaNoWriMo" will see 60,000 people sign up at www.nanowrimo.org to take the novel-writing challenge (and you can still sign up; writing commences November 1). I caught up with Baty to find out why his vision has such mass appeal.

How did you decide that encouraging people to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days was a good idea?

The idea was to give yourself permission to write a laughably awful novel. You give yourself permission to suck and then you free yourself from those fears that you're a hack. That's the first step in writing a good book—giving yourself permission to write a bad book.

But I don't want to write a bad book...

I know, it's tough. The problem is that as we get older we shy away from realms of incompetence, but you really have to embrace this idea that not knowing what you're doing is totally fine, and to just write for word count.

So how'd you get this thing off the ground?

I love books and I thought it would be cool to get a group of friends together to just write a mediocre novel in a month. The name [National Novel Writing Month] was just a joke. It was a consolation prize for writing such crappy novels—we could at least run them under the banner of this fancy name. I've been running NaNoWriMo every year since and it's gotten more extensive but really it's the same event that it was in 1999—30 days, 50,000 words: Go.

Has the size of it all exceeded your wildest dreams?

Yeah. The common assumption is that as a culture people are becoming more passive and it's hard for me to be part of NaNoWriMo every year and feel that that's true, because here's a HUGE group of people who are giving over a month of their lives just to write a novel. There're no prizes! All they get is the finished book and the experience of doing it. I think that attitude is hopeful for our culture.

Hey, locals! Portland has one of NaNoWriMo's most active chapters, with tons of participants, plus fun parties, writing groups, and other cool events all this month. So sign up today, www.nanowrimo.org, and join your nearby peers in the pursuit of extreme novel writing. You are not alone!

[Justin Wescoat Sanders / Portland Mercury]

Having idea for book isn't novel

For aspiring novelists, still trying to peck out their story on the typewriter, November may be the perfect incentive: National Novel Writing Month. Under NaNoWriMo rules -- as laid out on nanowrimo.org -- speed writers have from midnight on Nov. 1 until midnight on Nov. 30 to come up with 50,000 words. That won't make it easier to finish the first 100 pages, but Tuesday's lunch crowd in downtown Roanoke proved the adage that we all have a novel inside us.

And for readers only October is, among other things, National Book Month.

KEITH HIGH

Disabled veteran, Roanoke

Have you ever thought about writing a novel?

Yeah, plenty of times. You really want to know the truth? I thought about writing one about drug problems 'cause I was an addict myself.

Where would this book be set?

In Baltimore, Md. That's where I first got introduced to drugs, after I got out of the service.

I bet you have a lot of stories from serving in the military?

Yeah, and a lot of them have to do with drugs. I would write my book explaining to people what drug life is like and the only way out of it is jail time or death.

You're very candid, a good quality for a writer.

I didn't used to be.

LAURA RUMFELDT

Office manager, Floyd

Would you write a novel about your life?

I'm so in the middle, it's like the novel that's to be continued. I just turned 40 this month so maybe the first volume's complete and the sequel is coming.

What's the title?

The one to date, "How Not to Live Your Life."

So it's a story about turning corners?

Oh, lessons learned. I started out as a very young mother. ... I feel a lot wiser than I did 20 years ago.

FULTON WAID

Real estate appraiser, Fincastle

What would your novel be about?

An early trip from here in the early Civil War days, through the Cumberland Gap and to the West.

Would it be a story of hardship?

New beginnings. Hardship and then looking for the new beginnings. Maybe a Civil War soldier who may have lost his farm and decided to leave altogether for a new life out West. It sounds a little bit like "Cold Mountain," but a little bit different.

Who would be the hero?

Maybe an Indian that befriended the soldier.

GINGER MARTIN

Assembly line runner, Roanoke

What would your novel be about?

You got to crawl before you walk. So it would basically be about what we live, what we feed and what we grow off of. Would it be based on your own life?

Mm-hm.

Does your book have a title?

Yeah, "One Step at a Time." I wish I could call it "Life," you know what I'm saying?

DAVID BOWERS

Attorney, Roanoke

What would your novel be about?

My only comment is I'm presently reading Kinky Friedman.

October happens to be National Book Month, as well.

People should read four books a month. And lay off the television a little.

[Pete Dybdahl / The Roanoke Times]

Write a Novel!

It's October now, and all you closet novelists out there know what that means: It means it's almost November. And November means National Novel Writing Month. Signups are now open over at NaNoWriMo.org, so go toss your writer's block out the window and put your name down to become an author.

For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, the basic idea is 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days. It's not a competition -- anyone who participates can be a winner, and the reward is your very own novel. Nearly 6,000 people last year cleared the 50,000 word mark. Whether you're an experienced writer or a complete beginner, it's a creative trip like no other.

[Blogger Buzz]

Faster than a speeding pen

"There is a novel inside everyone..." or so the saying goes. And one local group will be spending the month of November testing the theory.

November is National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMo for short - and organizers encourage people of all ages, from the aspiring writers and the experienced, to write a 50,000 word novel (about 175 pages) in just one month.

That's an average of 1,667 words per day for 30 days, though most will probably find their novel doesn't fit quite so perfectly into that plan. However you get there, the goal is to do it in a month.

For anyone who has ever dreamed of penning the great American novel, but thought the goal was out of reach, the month of November is for you.

NaNoWriMo is the crash diet approach to writing. Get the words out on paper, and worry later about editing. The best advice anyone ever gave a writer is simple - "write." No revising, no stopping to agonize over every word. Just write. The program is the brain child of Bay area writer Chris Baty. He calls the event "an unforgettable month of playing in one's imagination," something he says few adults really do.

"So it's kind of nice to make it a priority for a month," he says, "to turn off that editor and just go."

Across the country, writers will be burning the midnight oil as they work to log their words. They'll stay up late and get up early, grabbing an hour at the keys before going to work or school.

Last year, 40,000 people took up the challenge, a number which has grown each year since the project got its start in 1999 with 21 writers. Participation is free. Anyone can register at the website, www.nanowrimo.org, whether you participate in local activities or not. There are message boards, inspiration and ideas, and even NaNo swag.

Throughout the month, writers can keep a running tally of their word counts, and submit a draft at the end for computerized counting.

The program provides inspiration, motivation, and something many need to get to the finish - a firm deadline. In addition, a young writers program encourages teachers to use NaNoWriMo as a classroom tool.

Teenagers and senior citizens, mothers and daughters, fathers and brothers, husbands and wives - NaNo attracts all kinds. And all are welcome. You don't need any special qualifications to participate. Just a desire to push yourself, though a touch of insanity does help.

Here in Williston, a writing group will meet weekly, with a late night write-in to the last minute on Oct. 30 and a wrap-up party in early December.

Mark your calendar for the meet and greet session planned for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, in the conference room at the Williston Community Library. Future meeting dates will be set at that session.

[Crysta Parkinson / Williston Herals]