It’s November 1st and cries of Nanowrimo are
heard amongst the literary community. But what is Nanowrimo?
Overview
Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writers Month and is a worldwide non-profit event (now an organization as well) dedicated to writers of all types, genres, and creeds committing to writing the first draft of their novel in one month. It’s ambitious and invigorating!
As a writer and a literary community lover, I relish the Nano season. A month filled with writing sprints, crazy characters, in-person writing events, and online writing events. Writers coming out of their hidey holes and interacting with each other. Cheering each other on and being together in silence except for the clacking of the keyboards. It’s an event to inspire the world to write, and I love it!
History
National Novel Writing Month was founded by Chris Baty in an effort to prove that anyone could write a book. He committed to writing h
is first draft of 50,000 words in 30 days and he did it. His story inspired others to write their books in 30 days and soon Chris and his friends created an organization that is inspiring and connecting writers around the world to get that first draft down. You can read more about Chris Baty and his creation of Nanowrimo in his book No Plot! No Problem!.
How does Nanowrimo work?
On the Nanowrimo website you can create a profile and fill out a short form with details about your work in progress and then commit to writing a 50,000 word draft in the month of November. You can join a home region on the website that tells you who your Municipal Liaison (community leader) is for your area. This person organizes events for the writers to attend in person or online through Zoom or Discord.
What’s so great about Nanowrimo? 1. Community—By connecting you with other writers in your area and even around the world, you can join a community of fellow writers. Writing can be lonely and isolating, but it doesn’t have to be. There are other writers who enjoy writing what you like to write, and participating in Nano is a way to meet them.
2. Motivation—Drafting is messy, and it’s easy to get discouraged. Since you are only competing against yourself (if you hit 50,000 words you win no matter what everyone else does) you are not comparing yourself to other writers. Instead, Nanowrimo offers you virtual badges, stickers, swag, and even winner t-shirts to help you motivate yourself. Nanowrimo coaches send out inspirational tips throughout the month and run writing sprints to help you reach your daily word count. Some regions have swag bags and other free stuff to cheer each other and create exciting momentum to propel you to the finish line.
3. Success—If you write any words during Nanowrimo you have succeeded, even if you don’t ‘win’ by getting to 50,000 words. Nanowrimo celebrates all written words because the goal is simply to write more than you wrote before. Any words are better than no words. It’s a low key, fun way to take the stress and pressure off and celebrate the written word.
4. Fun! It’s just so much fun!
Is it too late to join? No! You can join at any time! So pick your project. Log on to https://nanowrimo.org/ and join the fun! If you want to be buddies with me for the 2023 season, my username is Andsky. I would love to help cheer you on. 😊 Happy Nano!
Comentários