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October 2007
In my column last month, I mentioned the upcoming NaNoWriMo event in November. I'm devoting this month's column to the event because, well, if I wait until next month it might be a bit too late for some of you to jump in.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, though it would be more correct to call it International Novel Writing Month now. The first NaNoWriMo took place in July, 1999, with 21 people from the San Francisco, California area. Between July 1st and 31st, this small group goaded, encouraged, and otherwise managed to keep going as a group on individually writing novels in the span of one month. I won't revisit the entire history here, since it's so much better detailed on the web page. Suffice it to say, after the first year of WriMo, they decided to make it an annual event.
Beginning in 2000, they moved the event to the month of November, because, well, July is rather nice weather in San Francisco while November is kind of miserable. If you're going to be stuck inside anyway, why not be stuck inside having a blast while feverishly cranking out a novel? That year they had 140 participants, and their group had expanded to well beyond not only the city limits, but beyond the Nation's borders. It's grown exponentially since, turning into one of those phenomena that takes everyone by surprise. NaNoWriMo 2006 saw nearly 13,000 writers who finished the minimum 50,000 words required to be a winner. As I recall, there were nearly 80,000 participating from all over the world. From 21 to 80,000 in eight short years; that's 3800 times the participants from the first year to the most recently completed.
Sign-ups for this year's NaNoWriMo begin on October 1st at the WriMo website, http://www.nanowrimo.org, and turn out is expected to be greater than ever. Why? Because there are many people in the world who love to write, and many that have an idea for a novel-length story but never really had any kind of impetus to write it. It can be a daunting task to sit down and produce a novel when you feel you've barely conquered short story writing, but just like running a marathon or riding a bicycle century, with a little preparation and the energizing qualities of being in the group effort, the daunting somehow becomes not only plausible, but downright fun.
If you've ever wanted to write a book - any kind of novel - I encourage you to jump in with both feet and sign up for NaNoWriMo. For one, all it costs you is the time you're going to invest in your story. Whether you complete the 50,000 word goal or not, you will gain from the effort you invest in it. Writing is an art discipline, and like all the arts, the more we practice and exercise, the better we get. There are no entry fees to NaNoWriMo, though they accept donations to cover the expenses of maintaining the organization and web page. All funds received above and beyond operating costs go to build libraries in underdeveloped nations; last year, they raised enough to build some 5 libraries in rural Viet Nam.
How do you succeed at an event like this, particularly if you've never written a novel before? First and foremost, turn off your internal editor. If you write at all, you know who that is; that little voice that makes disparaging noises at the previous paragraphs. One of the pitfalls of writing is the tendency to revise and polish the first few chapters before the manuscript is finished, and the end result is that we burn out on editing and never finish at all. Tell yourself right now that it's okay if the first draft isn't that good; just get it finished. Write now; edit later. Whether you're up against a deadline like WriMo, or just poking along at a leisurely pace with no particular completion date in mind, keep that same mentality. Write the story beginning to end before you start to edit.
Taking time to outline is another valuable tool for success. An outline can be as detailed or as sparse as you wish, but even a single sentence synopsis of each chapter can streamline the writing process. This can be done before the official start of WriMo, allowing you to take time to think over the basic plot and getting a good idea of where you will start the story, where it will go, and how it will end. Listing your main characters and little notes about their traits will cut out time needed to think of names, backstories, etc., freeing that time up for writing the story.
Once you've signed up, visit the NaNoWriMo forums and check into WriMo gatherings and events in your area. As I mentioned previously, getting together with others who are tackling the same challenge has an energizing effect. Finding out from veterans of WriMo that something you're struggling with afflicted them in a previous year lets you know you're not alone in that, and particularly if they won anyway, that it's not an insurmountable obstacle.
It's an incredible feeling when you see your story beginning to grow and develop into a real novel. There is a sense of accomplishment in finishing that first draft and a satisfaction in knowing you've done something that most people in the world will never do. It all starts by saying, "I'm going to do it," and by refusing to say, "I can't write a novel."
October is the month for saying, "I want to write a novel, and I can write a novel." It's the month for getting the groundwork done and for telling yourself, "I'm going to give it a shot." If you do, look for author Hoomi in the profiles; that'll be me, hopefully making good progress on my planned project for this year, "Lana's Pack".
I'd love to know who to look for as well.
See you in November!
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