They say that within all of us there’s at least one book waiting to be written. If you’ve ever wondered what yours would be like, here’s your chance.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) is coming up fast.

What’s NaNoWriMo, you ask? It’s many things to many people. For some it’s a personal implied challenge, like attempting to devour one of those five-pound hamburgers some roadside eateries offer as an “If you can finish this, it’s on us” deal. For others, it’s a chance to get in touch with their long-dormant creative energies, shock them back to life, and finally be able to bend them to their will. Still others find it an opportunity to flesh out ideas, giving them the form and substance necessary to turn them into full-blown novels. And, of course, to many it’s just plain fun.

In a nutshell, NaNoWriMo is a challenge to you, the aspiring writer, to complete a full novel of at least 50,000 words (approximately 175 pages) within thirty days, starting at 12:01 AM (local time) November 1 and continuing until the stroke of midnight on November 30/December 1. That averages out to about 1,667 words per day, for the entire month of November.

Of course, there are rules to all this just to make it official: It must be a novel you write (i.e., no nonfiction); you can do all the preplanning you want, but you absolutely cannot start writing the actual novel until 12:01 AM November 1; and you must submit your finished fifty kilowords to the NaNoWriMo team for verification by the deadline.

Going from blank page to complete 50,000-word novella in 720 hours seems like a daunting goal to achieve, and it probably is. It certainly doesn’t leave you much time to edit. Then again, that’s really kind of the point; NaNoWriMo isn’t about writing a great novel, it’s about stimulating your creative juices by presenting you with a restrictive (but by no means impossible) deadline and forcing you to work fast and effectively, rather than seeking perfection. Someone once described it as “an enema for the creative-writing process,” and that’s a most apt (if graphic) depiction of what NaNoWriMo can do for a writer suffering the scourge of blockage.

More details — including writing tips, signup forms, participant forums, the official rules and FAQs, winning novels from the past, and even pointers toward getting your finished novel published — are all available from the NaNoWriMo website. Even if you can’t/don’t want to participate, it’s well worth checking out just for the helpful suggestions on how you too can overcome the pain of writer’s block.

Oh, and be sure to keep reading WotG. There are plans afoot, which I’m currently not at liberty to discuss in detail, that will help bring the experience of NaNoWriMo to our loyal readers. As they say on the backlot of an animated series, “Stay Tooned”…

If you liked that, try...

1. Week in Geek - Interview with Chris Baty
2. Thousand Miles, Days Four and Five: The Penguin Strikes Back
3. Week in Geek #01
4. 30 Days of Night
5. 30 Days of Night In October

4 Comments »

1. 
   Sean C
   October 11, 2007 at 12:55 pm

   I’m really, really tempted to do this; I just need to hammer out a decent plot.

   [Reply]
   Corvus Reply:
   October 12th, 2007 at 5:59 pm

   I’ve done it three times and “won” all three times (I don’t count 2004; my life exploded in the first week and there was no way I could continue). It’s easier than it sounds, even if you just have a vague plot. The point is to get the words out. You can polish it later. I’m trying to become a published novelist, so I put some extra effort into it, but you don’t need to get everything perfect. If you feel froggy, jump!

   [Reply]

2. 
   Migo
   October 11, 2007 at 3:12 pm

   I may try my hand at it again this year, but if previous years are any indication something catastrophic will happen to my computer during the month of November to crush any hopes of finishing. Two years ago, the last time I tried, the power cable for my laptop split and almost set my lap on fire/electrocuted me. Not a dance I’m willing to try again in the name of 50,000 words.

   [Reply]
3. 
   Caldi-Chan
   October 11, 2007 at 3:24 pm

   I’m considering it too. With Tia at Kindergarden in the mornings and going to bed at a decent hour, I might be able to pull it off, and my head is already stirring with ideas.

   The last time, I never officially entered, but played along for fun. I came up with some very interesting characters to say in the least.

   [Reply]

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