NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month
October 28, 2010
NaNoWriMo is a yearly challenge - international now - to write a 50,000 word novel in November. It's only as a a first draft, so quantity trumps quality, the intent being to nudge all those wannabe writers out there to just sit down and write.
I've written off and on since high school, reports and user manuals for work, letters to the editor and blogs for pleasure. Friends have often said, "You read a lot, you should write a book", but I don't think it's quite that simple. While I agree that reading a lot can certainly help you to learn what works and what doesn't, how characters develop, how scenes flow, how locations come to life, it doesn't automatically make you a writer.
I decided anyways to give it a try. I signed up for this last week on the NaNoWriMo site, and have since been planning and researching to get ready. Some may be OK with doing a stream of consciousness or following where the random ramblings take them, but I decided I would feel more comfortable with some structure and direction to create within. And when faced every day with another 1600 words or so to write, might help me to keep rolling. My novel has grown in scope from a simple story about street smart RCMP cop goes to run a northern detachment - there's now a murder, Federal meddling, First Nations concerns, a young heroine with links to local spirits and native lore and graffiti murals - and he has a super-power.
There's an active local presence in the Ottawa region of "Wrimer's", with lots of great ideas and support. We'll see how it goes - I may even have time to blog the process. It would be a great way to procrastinate.
Here's what I sent out as a press release to various local contacts ...
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In case you don't already know, November is National Novel Writing Month. The challenge for participants is to write 50,00 words between the first and the thirtieth. It's as a first draft only, with a focus on quantity rather than quality, aiming to get aspiring writers to just sit down and write.
NaNoWriMo started in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999 with 21 writers, this year there are now over 200,000 signed up from around the world.
Ottawa has over 1000 members so far, with ages ranging from teens to seniors. Some of us have had many successful years hitting that 50,000 mark, some have ended up eventually with a publishable novel, some are newcomers like me - both excited and scared at the concept.
Here's a link to the main site http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and the media page http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/mediakit
I've also attached the official press release.
I joined just a couple of weeks ago and have been busy learning about things like plot and structure and character development and point of view - if only I'd paid more attention in English class! And of course I've been downloading various sparkly tools and programs to help me get to my goal.
I don't think we (as in Ottawa Region) have done any press release - so this is it.
Our local kickoff is tonight at 7 at Cathay Restaurant on Albert. We'll apparently also gather on occasion at some "write-ins" around the city, and there seems to be a lot of support via writing buddies and encouraging emails during the month. Feel free to drop in, or if you want more information I can hook you up with our local coordinators.
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