The Biggest Writing Competition is About to Begin

Shoulders pulled back, it’s time to flex your fingers. Because on November first NaNoWriMo ( NaNo for short) will  start, and if you are thinking about participating, it’s time to contemplate making that commitment.

What is NaNo you may ask. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The brainchild of Chris Baty, the challenge is to write a 50,000 word first draft of a manuscript in thirty days. Begun in 1999, thousands of writers have participated in this endeavor, sponsored by a nonprofit platform that has the primary mission of encouraging creativity. 

Participation is FREE. You go to the website, you fill out some information that is totally for your benefit—the name of your project, your daily goals, maybe a cover photo to inspire you. Online communities and conversations can reinforce your ambitions and you will be solicited to donate money and afterwards purchase editing services or self-publishing services—but that’s your choice. Enough people are inspired to support this nonprofit that is continues to thrive.

It’s fun and it works. I’ve done it several times, and while I have yet to walk away with a novel draft ready to hit the best seller list, that’s not the point. The point is to let go and just write.

You’ll be competing against those voices in your head that try to come up with excuses for why you either don’t have the time, the perfect idea, or the expertise to write a book. That voice that says, maybe later I’ll get to it, but not today. Only with NaNo, writing every day the entire month is how you’re going to get that first draft finished.

Too many time, we writers spend way too many hours revising, strategizing, and worrying about what we should be writing next. I’m looking forward to an entire month where the focus is on writing down whatever comes into my head and worrying about little else; NaNo is a time to let the ideas flow and forego any type of self-censorship. Afterwards, you can read your work and decide to delete half your pages, but maybe you’ll find passages or prose with tremendous power. Then you can pat yourself on the back, buy yourself a NaNo T-shirt and be proud.

YOU ARE COMPETING AGAINST YOURSELF.

Many commercially successful authors have written their novels during National Novel Writing Month. Two favorite books I’ve read: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen are products of NaNo.  Both books involve a circus, but are very different. Morgenstern’s speculative fantasy features two magicians playing a deadly game whereas Gruen tells a Coming of Age story of a young veterinarian student who must navigate the politics of a circus troop during the American depression. These are just two of dozens of books that have emerged as a result of writers’ initial efforts during one fateful November. So why not you?

Notice I write initial efforts, because whatever you pen, will be a first draft. But everyone has to start somewhere and it may not necessarily be a novel.

I’m still revising a big novel, but I wanted to do NaNo this year and I decided to write a “whatever I want memoir.”  My humble goal is to generate some good material I can further shape into salient creative nonfiction essays.

Alternative ideas for using the month include: writing a series of short stories, a novella, a group of character sketches, descriptions of a fantasy world you’d like to invent, a novel that starts with the last chapter.  You don’t have to write 50,000 words to be a winner. You are competing against yourself. The ideas are infinite.

In the event you’d like to go traditional, with a plot outline and a character list, although the official start time is November first, start preparing now. The NaNoWriMo website provides some entry points if you’d like to use their suggestions. There is no right way, but they can help you find other people in your geographic area that may be hosting writing meet-ups and you can participate in online discussions with writers around the world. The idea is to have fun.

So what are you waiting for? I’m not going to share my rough pages, but I will be blogging during November and if you haven’t already signed up to follow me, please do on Medium or on WordPress at Nadjamaril.com.