As November comes to a close so does NaNoWrimo – the collective time to work on the resolution/ goal to write a novel. It’s also yet another year in which I am sitting on the sidelines and watching. It was a difficult decision because I’ve completed NaNo several times. This year was not going to be one of them.
In many parts of our world, folks are not pestered with voices in their head and these people may not know about NaNoWriMo. What do we get from participating? You might start a book or even finish a book – either way you’ll have 50,000 words of original material in the month of November. If you do – then you win. What do you win? Nothing but the ability to say that you wrote a novel, which is something that many people say that want to do in their life, but let’s face it, they rarely accomplish.
If you’re doing NaNoWrimo, I hope you’re having a great experience. Whether you win or not it’s about getting words on the page. And even if that doesn’t happen, sometimes just learning something about yourself and your writing process is worth not winning.
Personally, I think one of the best things about NaNoWrimo is that there are opportunities to connect with others. You might go crazy but you won’t be alone. Of course, you’ll still need to plan for the flu, several early dismissal days from school, the 4 days that your family will be visiting for Turkey Day and various other distractions but otherwise it’s totally doable. And when you get to the end – successful or not – you’ll have words you didn’t have 30 days earlier and every word written is one more you don’t have to do tomorrow!
Blogpost by Stephanie Gurnsey Higgins – VRW president