Happy Writing Month!

November is the month for words – the best one ever. That’s why NaNoWriMo takes place starting today.

From their website:

"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

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."


I can’t do NaNoWriMo this year. I’m doing "Finish These Revisions Before My Editor Kills Me." FiThReBeMiEdKiMe.

I did write a piece for the teen version of the NaNoWriMo site. I’ll post the link when it goes live.

Scribble…scribble…scribble…

9 Replies to “Happy Writing Month!”

  1. This is the fifth year that my husband has participated in NaNoWriMo, and I’ve always thought he was a little bit crazy to take on the challenge each year. Now our sixth grader has decided to give it a go as well. He has a more modest goal of 5,000 words. Hopefully his enthusiasm will continue beyond the first few days! πŸ™‚

  2. Another Writing Choice

    I know it isn’t the same as tackling a novel, but I’m joining the ranks of those posting every day in November for National Blog Posting Month – you’re already extremely consistent, but it’s a good challenge for those of us who otherwise only manage to post once a week or so! πŸ™‚

    -Kelsey
    http://mdwestmom.blogspot.com

    P.S. I voted for Zoe every day and now love her so much that she is probably going to have to be under the tree for my daughter this Christmas.

  3. I have dedicated the month of November to literary abandon. I have tried NaNoWriMo several times in the past, but never succeeded. This year, for the first time, I have a whole houseful of people who are supporting me and encouraging me in this endeavor. They even put a giant thermometer in the kitchen to measure my progress with crazy-fun prizes ranging from plush toys to opera tickets at each major threshold. When I hit 10,000 words, I win a pterodactyl! Of course, this also means that everyone who visits will instantly know my progress and I’ll have to suffer the shame of public humiliation if I don’t come through. I hit 5,142 on the first day. I hope I can keep this momentum.

    I wish you the best with FiThReBeMiEdKiMe. It doesn’t sound nearly as fun as NaNoWriMo, but I imagine the rewards are even greater.

  4. I’m not doing NaNo either. I’m finishing revisions so my agent can put my novel out on submission. Then I’m doing a rewrite of a WIP. I’ve had NaNo type experiences in the past. A great way to jumpstart a first draft. Good Luck to all!

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