NaNoWriMo 2010: Ready, Set, Go!
It's that time of year again everyone! Halloween is over, our bellies are aching from too much candy while our brains are bursting with ideas and our fingers are itching to touch the keyboard. So pull out your book bible, your character sketches, your plotting boards, your outlines, and your goal trackers. Get whatever you need to sit your butt down in a chair and start writing!
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NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month Challenge
What is NaNoWriMo? It's a worldwide challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days from November 1 to November 30.
The NaNoWriMo.org About page states: "Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."
And they are right. What you write will not be perfect, in fact, it will be far from perfect. But that's okay. Give yourself permission to write crap and you'll be amazed at how many words you can put on the page. Learning to suspend our inner editor is a very hard lesson for many writers. But it's a critical one since often, that inner editor can be the cause of writer's block. We fear that what we will write won't be any good so we don't write anything.
But don't worry - that's what writing is all about. You write a really rough draft, then you revise it and edit it, adding layer after layer of depth to your story with each revision.
Last year I participated in the NaNoWriMo challenge for the first time and to my surprise, I met the 50K goal. Up to then, I had never been able to write every day, and had never had the courage to start a full length novel. But the 50K words I wrote were the basis for the novel I finished in September. So you see? It really does work.
NaNoWriMo - Getting Started
Last year, as part of my NaNoWriMo experience, I wrote two blog posts that might help you get started.
The Blank Page and the NaNoWriMo Cure Part 1 This post outlines the writing process in clear steps. As you read this, you'll see why the draft is really just one step towards the final goal.
The Blank Page and the NaNoWriMo Cure Part 2 This post is packed with details about the NaNoWriMo challenge itself as well as hints and tricks on how to keep yourself motivated and writing throughout the entire month. Send in your comments and ideas if you have any to add what's already there. I'd love to hear them.
NaNoWriMo - WriMo Buddies
Once you create a profile on the NaNoWriMo.org website, you can link to your friends and other writers. These are known as buddies. (All NaNoWriMo participants are known as Wrimos.) At the end of each day, the participants log their word count. The total word counts are visible between buddies. A chart is also provided so you can see how you are progressing towards your goal and what your new daily target is based on what you've written so far.
My profile name is KristineCayne if you wish to include me in your buddy list. Let me know your profile name and I'll include you in mine.
Let me say that it's very motivating and even awe-inspiring to see how fast some of your buddies totals are going up
NaNoWriMo - Write-Ins
Write-Ins, where a group of NaNoWriMo participants get together for a few ours and write, discuss, commiserate, can be very helpful for many writers. For some, it's a much needed break, while for others its a moral booster. If you include a region in your profile, you will be notified by regional organizers of Write-Ins in your area. Many libraries also organize write-Ins. If you're in the Seattle area, the EastsideRWA chapter will be hosting Write-Ins each Tuesday evening in November (except the second one which is our chapter meeting but you are free to join that one too!). Check out the EastsideRWA Fanpage on Facebook for time and location details.
Happy writing,
Kristine
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(To make sure you don’t miss any entries, please consider subscribing by RSS feed or email. The links are right here on the side ===> )
NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month Challenge
What is NaNoWriMo? It's a worldwide challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days from November 1 to November 30.
The NaNoWriMo.org About page states: "Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."
And they are right. What you write will not be perfect, in fact, it will be far from perfect. But that's okay. Give yourself permission to write crap and you'll be amazed at how many words you can put on the page. Learning to suspend our inner editor is a very hard lesson for many writers. But it's a critical one since often, that inner editor can be the cause of writer's block. We fear that what we will write won't be any good so we don't write anything.
But don't worry - that's what writing is all about. You write a really rough draft, then you revise it and edit it, adding layer after layer of depth to your story with each revision.
Last year I participated in the NaNoWriMo challenge for the first time and to my surprise, I met the 50K goal. Up to then, I had never been able to write every day, and had never had the courage to start a full length novel. But the 50K words I wrote were the basis for the novel I finished in September. So you see? It really does work.
NaNoWriMo - Getting Started
Last year, as part of my NaNoWriMo experience, I wrote two blog posts that might help you get started.
The Blank Page and the NaNoWriMo Cure Part 1 This post outlines the writing process in clear steps. As you read this, you'll see why the draft is really just one step towards the final goal.
The Blank Page and the NaNoWriMo Cure Part 2 This post is packed with details about the NaNoWriMo challenge itself as well as hints and tricks on how to keep yourself motivated and writing throughout the entire month. Send in your comments and ideas if you have any to add what's already there. I'd love to hear them.
NaNoWriMo - WriMo Buddies
Once you create a profile on the NaNoWriMo.org website, you can link to your friends and other writers. These are known as buddies. (All NaNoWriMo participants are known as Wrimos.) At the end of each day, the participants log their word count. The total word counts are visible between buddies. A chart is also provided so you can see how you are progressing towards your goal and what your new daily target is based on what you've written so far.
My profile name is KristineCayne if you wish to include me in your buddy list. Let me know your profile name and I'll include you in mine.
Let me say that it's very motivating and even awe-inspiring to see how fast some of your buddies totals are going up
NaNoWriMo - Write-Ins
Write-Ins, where a group of NaNoWriMo participants get together for a few ours and write, discuss, commiserate, can be very helpful for many writers. For some, it's a much needed break, while for others its a moral booster. If you include a region in your profile, you will be notified by regional organizers of Write-Ins in your area. Many libraries also organize write-Ins. If you're in the Seattle area, the EastsideRWA chapter will be hosting Write-Ins each Tuesday evening in November (except the second one which is our chapter meeting but you are free to join that one too!). Check out the EastsideRWA Fanpage on Facebook for time and location details.
Happy writing,
Kristine
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Posted by Kristine Cayne at 10/30/2010 8:11 PM 
Categories: Writing, Writing Process
Tags: writing NaNo NaNoWriMo writer beginner author Nanowrimo
Categories: Writing, Writing Process
Tags: writing NaNo NaNoWriMo writer beginner author Nanowrimo
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