You Will Write a Novel Next Month
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Do you dream about writing a novel one day? Dream no longer, just do it. This November you can join the ranks of thousands of writers and write your first novel with just one goal in mind: to come up with a story with 50,000 words by midnight, November 30.
Can this really be done? Why not give it a shot?
One of the most interesting projects I have ever heard of, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) starts for the ninth time on the first of November - in two days that is.
While I have so many projects going on that I can’t participate myself, I wholeheartedly recommend you to give it a shot. Not just because it’s a great way to finally get your writing started and to overcome writer’s block, but also because this project teaches a truly valuable lesson in life:
Stop talking. Do it.
What we all have in common is that we have dreams. Some dreams are more ambitious (”I’ll start a business that will make billions” or “My research will change the world and I will get a Nobel prize”) and some are more down to earth (”Some day my kids will love reading” or “I will decorate my house with nice carpets”). But that doesn’t matter - they are all dreams, and important to the dreamer.
But what makes all the difference is whether we act on the dream or not.
It’s easy to talk about the dreams and say things like “one day, I’ll start writing my book”, or “when it’s the right time, I’ll start building my blog”, but if you don’t act on it, the dream is only a way to escape your everyday reality for a while. Not something that will ever become part of your reality.
But what if I fail?
The beauty of NaNoWriMo is that it’s not about quality. It’s all about getting the novel written:
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
Wow!
That’s what makes NaNoWriMo so special. It gets you started. It gives you the feeling that you can do it. That you can actually write a 50,000-word novel.
And when you have done it once, you can do it again!
Once you have written 50,000 words of crap, you are much closer to writing a book with 50,000 words of the highest quality. You know that you can do it if you just spend some time on it.
So, if you have a month to spare, and want to make your dream become reality, this is your chance. Join NaNoWriMo and start writing. And if you’re not into writing a novel, you can use the same approach for your other dreams as well.
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October 30th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hmmm…that’s quite an intense project. Do you really think it’s feesible for the average person to complete it in one month?
October 30th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
That’s a good question, Armen.
I haven’t tried it myself yet, but many have so I believe it’s doable. It definitely will take some time and I think you’d have to work on it for some time every day.
A quick calculation shows that you need to write 1,667 words per day to get to 50,000 in a month. That’s a lot - about the amount of three blog posts.
But we also need to keep in mind that the idea is not to polish your text. Just write it. Keep it coming, write your thoughts down and let it flow forward. It’s about quantity, not quality, after all :)
Hmm… I think I’ll interview someone who participated in the project after it’s over and ask how it was. That should make an interesting blog post.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Nanowrimo is great. I tried it last year… Managed to scrape up some 13000 words. Nevertheless, it was great! The nano-community is just wonderful, and the method really freed my flow. I’m still working on the novel I started then, and I think it’s going to be goooood…
October 31st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
That’s great to hear, Kaisa! Can you tell us some more about the process?
How much time did you spend on the novel during November? How many words did you get on paper per day? Where you able to just write or did you get back to fixing things here and there along the way?
How do you feel about the end result? Is it a success, or do you feel like you failed when you didn’t get to 50,000 words?
October 31st, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I’ve always wanted to try this project myself. But one of my problems is I don’t even know where to start. However, I have worked on writing - I did finally start my own blog, and I’ve written poems and greeting cards for friends and family.
I think it’s a great idea though. I’m almost tempted to try it. But coming up with ideas for two different daily blog posts already has me busy. Plus, my ideas always come in spurts. A bunch of ideas all at once, then nothing. Don’t think I’d make it to 50,000. Wow that’s a big number. But - maybe that will be a goal for next year. ;0)
November 1st, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Yeah, writing blog posts every day is definitely enough to keep you busy. And in a sense I think that when you are blogging, you are anyway writing - and thus doing something similar to what you’d do if you were participating.
I think we should count the number of words we have already put in our blogs - it could maybe even exceed 50,000… But yeah, maybe next year I’ll participate too ;)
November 12th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Oh man, I wish I wasn’t busy with applications, or I would do this.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Yeah, I know the feeling… :)