National Novel Writing Month Starts Today

Known in the biz as NaNoWriMo, this month long writing event challenges participants to write a 50,000 word novel in draft in 30 days.  The idea is that writing is a very solitary art and it is often hard to get motivated, but if you have logged on to the NaNoWriMo project, you have joined a community of like minded people.

I had the chance to talk to Erin Morgenstern about her experiences writing The Night Circus over the course of three different NaNoWriMos and she had nothing but good things to say about her participation.  She said it not only made her buckle down and write all the time for 30 days, but because the word count was the highest priority, she felt free to just keep writing.  She only went back and edited a few months after the fact.  The drafts changed over time, and the final novel was improved because she was allowed to follow crazy plot threads, many of which never made it into the novel (for the better, she said), while other side tracks did make it into the novel.  Interestingly, Celia, a main character, did not ever appear it into any of the NaNoWriMo drafts of the novel.

If you are an aspiring writer, this is a great, free event to participate in.  Sign up today, and start writing.  There is no pressure.  Click on through to get started. Or click here for the full history of this event.

If you still need some convincing, GalleyCat is a big supporter and cheerleader for NaNoWriMo.  They will have tips and posts just about every day this month.  Click on through to their post from today with 60 writing tips for NaNoWriMo.