What is NaNoWriMo?
NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. Basically, every November, aspiring and published authors take it upon themselves to complete a FULL-LENGTH BOOK of 50,000+ words in four short weeks. It seems like an impossible task, but IT CAN BE DONE.
I wish I could say that my work is among the successful ones. However, this is merely my FIRST attempt at ever doing something like this. I will be open about my project - it is the SEQUEL to The Hidden Legacy! *squeals in excitement* And I am already behind. *smacks forehead*
Even though this is my first year participating, I’m happy to report that many successful authors have conquered NaNoWriMo. Among them is literary legend Kelley Armstrong and bookish comedian C.G. Drews (i.e. @paperfury). At a recent Q&A panel with Kelley Armstrong (NY Times Best Selling Author), Kelley revealed that she uses NaNoWriMo as a way of testing out new projects that she’s uncertain about. Even if the project is totally messy and she tosses the whole thing, she keeps the concept and rewrites it. Participating in NaNoWriMo led to her first YA fiction, The Summoning, being born.
C.G. Drews (author of A Thousand Perfect Notes) has also announced her triumph with her 2016 #NaNoWriMo project The Boy Who Steals Houses:
Alexandra Bracken (author of The Darkest Minds) is joining the fun with a higher word count of 80,000 words! Go girl!
And Marie Lu (author of Legend and Warcross) is using NaNoWriMo to work on drafting her new project. She’s cheering you on!
Even authors who aren’t participating in NaNoWriMo are quick to offer their support to writers everywhere taking on this challenge:
And well-known authors such as Veronica Roth (author of the Divergent trilogy) are happy to offer tips to turn that chaotic story into a well-thought and mapped-out book! https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/veronica-roth
The fact is, you are writing an ENTIRE NOVEL in the span of four weeks. It will not be perfect. It will not be ready for publication. It may even require a rewrite. That doesn’t mean your messy NaNoWriMo project should be thrown out entirely. It simply means that it needs more work to get to a publishing level! There are MANY authors, both aspiring and published, who have seen the benefits of participating in NaNoWriMo! Why not try it for yourself? I am!
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