Saturday, October 16, 2010

Project to Published: NaNoWriMo

Project to Published
“NaNoWriMo”

As some of you may already know, I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I had heard so many amazing things about it from friends and aspiring authors so decided to look into exactly what NaNoWriMo is. For those of you who may not have heard of it, NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month, which runs from November 1st to the 30th. The goal is to try to write 50k words in one month! I think it is a great idea. Here is a little explanation from the official NaNoWriMo 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.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2009, we had over 165,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.”

See why I like it? For those of you who have been yearning and waiting, trying to find the right time to start, why not take advantage of a little competition with your peers. Many authors feel that the first novel you write is a practice novel, so why not just have fun with it and let yourself go! You can write about anything and make it as random and fun as you want because as you read above, it is all about quantity not quality. I personally will be joining in with one of my next official novels because I just love the competitive spirit to this event! Let’s all let NaNoWriMo make us better authors and who knows, you may discover the opportunity that you have been waiting on.

I will be joining in NaNoWriMo meet-ups throughout the nation and I hope you will be going to your local meet-ups. I know I will be! I hope all of you will join in the “Thirty days and nights of literary abandon!”

Will you join me in participating next month?

Sincerely,
Emma Michaels

27 comments:

  1. I'm participating! I'm so excited!
    -Miranda
    www.just-read-books.blogspot.com
    miranda.lyons09@yahoo.com

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  2. I'm taking part too! NaNo #5 for me!

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  3. I am taking part in this and It is my first ever! I am so excited I cannot wait to get started!!

    Kristen
    www.kristenhaskins.blogspot.com
    My Bloody Fairy Tale!

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  4. I'm planning on participating. Need to start getting ideas together for it.

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  5. I'm participating for the first time this year too! :) I think it will be a lot of fun!

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  6. I would so do this, but I have final exams!

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  7. New Follower!!

    Excited to take a peak at you blog!!

    Natalie @ http://endlesslyautumn.blogspot.com

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  8. Yay! I've been talking this up on twitter and FB. I even posted How I Speed Write, check it out http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-i-speed-write.html

    I had great fun and success with Nanowrimo and can't wait to see how everyone else is doing.

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  9. Hopping by to return the visit! I did NanoWriMo last year and may be trying it again this year. I'm glad you're doing it--it's so much fun!

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  10. Wow sound like a blast, how do you get started. I have not heard about it but am very interested.
    Thanks,

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  11. wow, 50K words in one month. that's what i call a marathon. good luck! I will definitely be following to see how you're doing. And thanks for hopping by and becoming a follower!:-)

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  12. Good luck, and thx for the info... it opened my eyes a little.

    If I write I need to finish revisions of my 100k novel, I’m just about done.

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  13. Hi! Spotted you on the Hop, and came by to say hi :)
    Good luck with the intense writing, and on your new series next year.

    I am interested in reviewing your current book on my blog, and I do accept ebook copies. Let me know what you think -
    - Dee from e-Volving Books

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  14. This will be my first year participating and I'm super excited! It looks like so much fun and I love any excuse to write. xD

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  15. I'm not participating, (I want to focus on my WIP) but good luck with writing 50k!

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  16. Thanks for stopping by my blog, thought i'd return the favour!.

    I'm doing NaNoWriMo too, it will be my first year and i'm so excited but still not sure what i'm gonna write about.
    :D

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  17. I'm doing it too! This is going to be my first year and I hope I can finish it:)

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  18. I am doing Nano too...reluctantly lol. Thanks for stopping by my blog for the hop this weekend. I would love to participate in the blog tour next year, just let me know! I am available to take e-books as well.

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  19. Hi Emma - Thank you for visiting/commenting at my blog. I am doing NaNoWriMo for the second year and can not wait to get started. It is an a,azing, enriching experience. I had completed a couple of novels before my first foray into NaNo but it still taught me quite a lot about myself as a writer. Good luck and have fun!

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  20. I'm participating too. It will be my first!
    http://unpolishedwords.blogspot.com

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  21. I'm participating for the first time ever too! So this Nov. is gonna be a crazy month.

    imreading-goodforme.blogspot.com

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  22. Good luck to you and all that enter. It seems such a daunting task to me, so I admire you for going for it :)

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  23. Thanks for stopping by our blog, had to return the favor! Considering NaNoWriMo too, so great to know there's such an enormous network out there for it. Good luck!

    http://blog.ChickLitShorties.com

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  24. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm also really excited for NaNo. What's your username for buddy-purposes?

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  25. New follower! And fellow NaNo-er. What's your NaNo user name so I can add you to my buddy list? I'm mkdbail. See ya there!

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  26. I'm participating! I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. But I'm a person who loves deadlines, so the event is perfect for me. Check in to see how I'm doing to make sure I'm on the ball!

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  27. Hi! I'm Darlene, aka Trilli on NaNo. This is my 6th NaNo Novel. I'm excited to see that everyone is so interested! I love finding people who love to write as much as I do!

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