I believe everyone knows about NaNoWriMo, which stays for National Novel Writing Month, is an annual, Internet-based writing endeavour that happens in November. People that join will attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript between 1-30 November. What people sometimes don’t realise is that you’re not obliged to write a novel; many of us do not, as a matter of fact.
As a “NaNo-Rebel”, you can write a collection of short stories, a non-fiction book, even of your PhD thesis, as I have recently suggested to one of my PhD students (which will probably accept the challenge). The good reason for doing it now is that in this month you find a lot of resources, online and in real-life groups, that make the solitary business of writing less solitary and full of incentive and resources.
Convinced? Well, if this is the case, read this good introduction to NaNoWriMo, and some writing tips from successful authors.
Second, and most important, do sign up at NaNoWriMo’s official website (it’s free): you will be able to find writing buddies and locate which support groups and writing gathering are being organised in your city (I’m lucky: in Edinburgh, we have a vibrant scene and some excellent moderators). I’ll also suggest you get yourself Scrivener or another of writing-aiding software, no matter the kind of MS you’re going for.
For what I’m concerned, this is my fourth year in a row, and this time, I’m trying something different from the usual genre. But I’ll talk about that later, hopefully after completing it: at the Thanks-God-Is-Over party. Happy Writing!
Best of luck if you are embarking on a writing project this November, Steph:))
Thanks, as usual it seems sooo impossible 😀
I think I’ll be sitting it out again this year, but I wish you the best of luck!
Many thanks!:)