-------
“Once upon a time, I believed you needed to have several things before you set out to write a novel. These were, in order of importance:
1) Heart-fibrillating amounts of coffee
2) Plot
3) Character
4) Setting”
This quote, taken from a book called, No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty is then succeeded by this:
“[But] you don’t need a plot before you write a novel, nor do you need an evocative sense of place or a winsome, engaging cast. You don’t even need coffee (though I still haven’t allowed myself to fully come to terms with that yet).
What you really need is a secret weapon.”
What is this awe-inspiring tool that any novelist needs?
A deadline. And did I mention that the subtitle of the book is A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide To Writing A Novel In 30 Days?
Yes, my friend, you read that correctly. Every November, thousands of people across the globe challenge themselves to write novels, and to do it in just thirty days. The wonder has a name: National Novel Writing Month.
It is believed by some that everyone has a novel inside them, waiting to be written. If that’s true, why aren’t we all quitting school and day jobs and instead writing our little hearts out? Of the many that have ever thought about having their name in print, of those that have ever read a book and thought, “I can do better than that,” few have actually sat down and plugged out that story bubbling in the melting pot that is the imagination. There are many reasons for this, of course; people are too busy, they claim they don’t know the first thing about writing, they have other commitments, they give up a couple of pages into the story. The list goes on.
But what if I were to tell you that every November a marathon of sorts happens, where anyone who’s ever dreamed of getting that story in their head onto paper takes the leap and tries it? But there’s a catch: you only have thirty days to write said novel, and by the end of that month, your word count has to be at 50,000 (about 175 pages).
Any non-writer would be thinking to themselves, “Who would do something so crazy and/or stupid?” But to writers, or anyone who has ever wanted to be a writer, it is embarking on a great adventure. When trying to write a block of prose so huge in such a short period of time, you are forced to just write. You forget about proper mechanics and spelling. You don’t worry about your awful story line, or whether your cast is acting out of character, or if your piece is remotely publishable. All that matters is that word count, and God knows that you’re hitting the “recount” button on Microsoft Word every two minutes. If NaNoWriMo, as it is fondly nicknamed, had a slogan, it might be, “Quantity, not quality.” By taking this Kamikaze approach to writing, you are allowing yourself to make mistakes.
“Are there any prizes involved?” you might ask. “What do you win if you reach 50k words?” The answer is easily, “Nothing and everything.” You don’t receive anything material upon winning, unless you count a print-out of your manuscript, if you want to make one. It’s more of a psychological win actually, aside from the fact that once you validate your word count on the official National Novel Writing Month site, it tells you you’ve won. After you’ve made this achievement you know from then on what you’re capable of. No longer is that ten-page essay your history teacher is forcing you to write so terrifying. You know that you are skilled enough to write, however incoherent, a novel. You gain confidence. You now have the bragging rights to say that you are, officially, a novelist.
This previous November, in 2006, the numbers were the highest they’ve ever been. 982,523,177 was the total collective word count once the bell tolled midnight on December 1st, and the winners list comprised of some 12,946 authors. While that seems like an enormous number, you have to look at it in perspective: there were 79,824 participants total in 2006. This means only 16% of the novelists reached the 50k word goal. Aside from this daunting figure, the NaNoWriMo website is home to forums as well, where authors can complain, console, and get help from other writers alike. Two sub-forums on the site catch my eye: the “NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul” and the “This Is Going Better Than I’d Hoped”. But the former has approximately three times as many posts as the latter. Encouraging? I think not.
Then why do people come back and participate year after year, even if they don’t win? It is largely the view of the entire NaNoWriMo community that, if you’ve written more this month than you would have outside of NaNoWriMo, you’re a winner.
For an idea of just how crazy it gets, you can take a look at the forums, where you will find threads such as “The Annual Dare Thread”, where if your plot is running out of steam you can take a crazy dares and throw them into your novel, things like “Use tarot card readings to plot your novel”, “Have the (by now) world-famous NaNoWriMo plot-ninjas drop from the ceiling at random moments!”, and “Have an entire scene spent picking flowers”. There’s the “What was your 50,000th word?” thread and the “50k Shout Out!” thread. There are thousands of complete strangers, banding together and supporting one another only because they’re all writers.
November 2006 was my first NaNoWriMo experience, and what an experience it was! My friends and family will gladly tell you how I secluded myself for hours to get some words written among other commitments, such as showering, eating, and sleeping, not to mention that my novel was just about all I talked about that crazy month. My novel featured a freak show, murder, and many love triangles/squares. I reached 50,000 words on the ninth day of November, then caught up on sleep the rest of the month.
Apart from the writing portion of the website, there is another part of the site where you can make donations. 50% of these donations plus the merchandise sales goes to building libraries for children in Southeast Asia.
National Novel Writing Month is a great way to give yourself the creative wake-up call that you probably need, and sign-ups start on October 1st every year. Or if you don’t want to participate, you could just, you know, laugh at all the crazy writers who do.
See you on the novelling front!
Very good article!