Oh, how wonderfully close November is! Yes, it is that time of year again. NaNoWriMo is fast approaching. What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Beginning on November 1st and continuing til the very end of November 30, participants around the world write and type their way to completing a 50,000 word novel. I know, I know. That does sound terribly daunting. I was terrified when I signed up at about 11:45 pm on October 31st of last year. I had no idea what I was getting into! But with some alone time, classical music, the encouragement of fellow NaNo writers, and a LOT of coffee... I managed to win my first year with over 54,000 words. Yeah, that's right... I made it to 50k and kept on going! I surprised and impressed not only my family and friends, but myself.
I'm really looking forward to NaNo '09 because it's going to be a whole new experience for me this year. Last year I was going to school near my hometown at a community college, living at home and writing in my inspiring bedroom, working part-time, and had never consumed coffee in my life. Oh, and I only knew one other person participating in NaNoWriMo. This year I'm at a new school, having transferred to Iowa State University. I'll be writing in my not-so-inspiring dorm, but I'm going to use October to decorate it and make it as inspiring as possible. (My surroundings really effect my writing.) I have no job, but loads more homework and lots of papers to write in November. I'm a pro at making delicious, strong coffee. And there are people in the surrounding area that get together and have write-ins, which is soooo exciting!
There's no cost to signing up. There's no penalty if you don't make it to 50k. And there are no prizes if you do. But the satisfaction of composing your own 50,000 word story is truly amazing. Yeah, it'll probably consist primarily of crap... but that's what editing and re-writing is for. So head on over, sign up, and get ready to write your novel this year.
Oh, and if you'd rather sit back and watch my NaNo progress, I should have a widget on the right-hand sidebar of this blog around the start of November. You and I'll will be reminded constantly of my (hopefully speedily growing) wordcount throughout the month.
Amore.
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