Many of us know about NaNoWriMo, the nickname for National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo was founded in 1999 and became a 501 (c) (3) non profit in 2005. The object of NaNoWriMo is to commit to writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. In 2017, 402,142 people around the world participated in National Novel Writing Month activities, with 306,230 attempting the NaNoWriMo November challenge. Of these, 34,214 completed drafts in November. (Source: National Novel Writing Month Annual Report, 2017). This is about an 11% “win” rate, but that is clearly not the point of NaNoWriMo.
The organization and all its parts: NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers Program has a higher purpose as explained in their mission statement from their 2017 annual report. “National Novel Writing month believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.” And for many of us, that experience is truly transformative.
How I Became a Rebel
It was in April of 2015 that I first learned of NaNoWriMo from an entering student at my college. It was so engaging, I decided to try it and have enjoyed it ever since. To be a traditional NaNoWriMo participant, you are to start with a blank page and begin writing the first word on your novel on November 1st. It doesn’t matter if you have an outline before that time—even a detailed one—but you’re not supposed to start writing until November. For the most part, I’ve done that over the last three years quite successfully.
2018 is different, for I started writing my NaNoWriMo novel in September, finishing the very rough draft of over 79,000 words on November 3rd. This makes me a NaNoWriMo rebel by redefinition. Since I’ve been called a rebel by several people and organizations over my lifetime, this doesn’t phase me at all. However, to continue the spirit of NaNoWriMo, I am taking on a writing challenge for the next two months, which is to write 25 short stories in the months of November and December. This will be a daunting task, and I hope to make it somewhat easier by using a number of short story writing prompts I’ve taken from the internet.
Bringing in a Newbie
This year is also special because I now have my first NaNoWriMo recruit. One of my work colleagues wanted to write a novel for her partner, but didn’t have the motivation to start. When we discussed what I would be doing for much of the month of November, she registered and found the LGBT+ Fiction discussion threads with the forums. She was completely taken with the possibilities and camaraderie among fellow WriMos, so much so that she has committed to finishing her novel this year, whether she wins in November or not.
Spreading the spirit of creativity and sharing is very much what this month is all about. I’m glad I could bring her into our community.
