Monday, October 19, 2009

10 Reasons to Enter the NaNoWriMo

by Maria C. Ferrer


November is National Novel Writing Month, or as it has affectionally come to be called, NaNoWriMo.  It's a writing challenge for the adventurous -- 50,000 words in 30 days. And the best part -- no editing allowed. You just write, write, write.  Don't worry about spelling or grammar or repetitive phrases. Turn off your internal editor. Anything and everything you write is Gold! (How often can we as writers say that?!)  So join the fun. NaNoWriMo registration begins October 1. The writing begins on November 1.  Sign up TODAY at www.nanowrimo.org. And don’t forget to also join the Chapter NaNo group. 



10 REASONS TO ENTER THE NANOWRIMO

1.  The challenge is only for one month -- 30 days.

2.  The only requirement is to write.

3.  It’s only 50,000 words.

4.  Everything and anything you write is GOLD.  And better yet, every word counts.

5.  You can use a pencil or a pen or a computer to write your novel.

6.  It’s a great time to try writing a different genre. 

7.  Deadlines are our friend.  (When in doubt, repeat.)

8.  There will be no dieting during the NaNoWriMo challenge. You need all your energies focused on writing.

9. There will be no editing and no proofreading. Violators will be put on a diet in December.

10. You can see your word count increase on the NaNoWriMo site with their count widget. You can also see your friends’ counts. The competition will keep you writing.

 Good luck!

3 comments:

  1. I did NaNo last year for the first time and hit 50K words on November 29. My family had Thanksgiving dinner from Publix and nothing got done around the house but bare necessities. That book ended up being requested (and ultimately rejected) by Silhouette Special Edition.

    This year I'm not sure I can do NaNo. I'm going through a divorce, just moved out of my house to an apartment, my brains are mush and I've not been able to write much at all this year. I don't know if I could wring 5K out of my brain much less 50K. I've had no time to pre-write and plot anything.

    However, it's a great experience and I encourage anyone to give it a go. If your local area had a support group, tie in to them. I found some new friends who understood about voices in your head. :-) We had write-ins regularly and it really helped to get out of my office to write. Plus I love the soup at Atlanta Bread Company. LOL!

    Marilyn

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  2. Very cute post, Maria! I won't be joining you this year (will be editing my novel instead and I'm not much of a multi-tasker) but I wish the best of luck and lots of fun to the participants.

    Lis

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  3. Can't wait for November 1st. It seems that the only time I get to write is during Nano. The rest of the time I am off with revisions. Nano is a fun time. I use an outline or else I'll get nothing done. No excuses when you have things mapped out.

    Great post.

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