I am excited to announce that I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month!
What is NaNoWriMo?
National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo is an Internet-based creative writing project created by freelance writer Chris Baty. The competition started in San Franscicso in 1999. The goal of this project is to motivate participants to write at least 50,000 words of fiction in one month. The difficulty of NaNoWriMo is turning the 50,000 words into a coherent novel. The challenge of writing a novel roughly the length of Aldus Huxley’s A Brave New World in under a month is a daunting task, but the competition has proved its worth for more developed writers like Sara Gruen. Her best-selling book and popular movie adaptation, Water for Elephants, was born out of NaNoWriMo.
The first year of NaNoWriMo had 21 participants with only six winners. Since then, the program has seen tremendous growth. In 2011, NaNoWriMo had 256,618 participants and 36,843 winners.
The competition is free to join for any and all participants. All of the winners, those who hit the prestigious 50,000 mark within the month of November, receive a web badge of achievement and the personal satisfaction of completing a novel of 50,000 words or more.
The motto of NaNoWritMo is “if you believe you’re writing a novel, we believe you’re writing a novel too.” I would love to encourage you to participate in NaNoWriMo if you are looking to become a writer, stretch your creativity, or just want to try something new. For those not interested in writing fiction, the NaNoWriMo community has something in store for you. A rebellious group of writers have been challenging the status quo of the contest in recent years. This community of rebels welcomes writers from all walks including those who want to write non-fiction. They call themselves the NaNo Rebels. Check our their forum here.
Fiction writing isn’t my forte. Personally, I have never written 50,000 words in one month. All of that is about to change during the month of November. My first attempt in NaNoWriMo begins in a few days. I look forward to updating you with the progress of my novel.
For those writers or bloggers interested in joining me, feel free to sign up here.
I look forward to sharing this novel with you all if and when I finish it. If you have any encouragement or feedback, please hit up the comment section below.
About Stephan Stansfield
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