By Meghan K.
The deadline seems impossible. You sit down at your computer, your hands shaking, and reach for the keyboard. You type slowly at first, but then faster and faster, fingers flying over the keys as you begin to write the novel you will work on for over a month.
Okay, so maybe it isn’t quite as dramatic as that, but National Novel Writer’s Month, or NaNoWriMo, as it is sometimes affectionately called, is definitely a huge challenge, although I have to admit, it is a fun challenge to take on.
First of all, there are two different sections of NaNoWriMo that you should know about: the regular NaNoWriMo and the Young Writer’s Program, or YWP. The regular NaNoWriMo is mostly geared towards adults, meaning anyone over the age of 13 years old is permitted to sign up for it, while the Young Writer’s program is more geared towards those between grades one and twelve. There are several differences between them, such as the YWP’s more flexible word count goals, however for the most part, they are pretty similar.
But enough with the technical stuff! Let’s get to the information you want to hear!
I spent last November (more specifically, November 2013), working on an idea. I managed to register for NaNoWriMo on November 2nd, meaning I had no time to put together an idea for a plot, or even so much as an outline. All I had was an idea, the drive, and the time.
That hair-brained idea actually turned out really well in my opinion, considering how little planning and effort had gone into it.
I poured myself into my novel throughout November, writing and rewriting and re-rewriting until, after weeks and weeks of writing, I reached my goal of 10,000 words on November 24th, and became a “winner” of NaNoWriMo, which happens when you reach or surpass your goal.
Did I surpass my goal? Definitely! It just so happened that 10,000 words happened to fall right around the beginning of my story, so I wrote some more, and I’m still writing! And when winners meet their goal, CreateSpace, a publishing group run by Amazon, is willing to give them somewhere between two and five free copies of their book between December 5 – 10 and June 20th of the following year!
If you get writer’s block, never fear! There is an amazing community of writers on the forums, so if you need feedback on a part of your story, need ideas, or if you just need to vent about writer’s block (which may cause you to write about writer’s block in your novel, if it fits!), someone is bound to give you a hand sooner or later!
Anyways, NaNoWriMo may seem daunting at first, but it really is a great opportunity and it’s a lot of fun. I will most definitely be back next year. So, are you up to the challenge?
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