NaNoWriMo

Well, this post is long overdue. Sorry!

NaNoWriMo. Sigh. This is a writer's best friend. Only, it's the best friend you someone wish you didn't have. NaNo is the best friend that criticizes you, makes you realize how awful you are, and will keep you up long and painful nights. But NaNo will also give you a great feeling of success and tons of laughs. What is NaNo? It's the challenge to write 50k words in a month.

Yeah, FIFTY THOUSAND! It's an amazing experience and you'll learn a lot from it. It teaches you that you have a right to suck. Because that's really the only way you write the entire 50k is if you don't worry about the quality. You just write. You write like a madman. You allow yourself to be bad because you can edit it later. Right now you just need to write your novel. When you reach the goal you feel amazing. The only bad things is that when you tell your non-writer friends about it they'll say things like, "It's a contest and you won? Cool! What did you win?" And then you tell them "Well, I wrote a novel in a month...." and they'll think you're a freak that doesn't now the meaning of a prize.

NaNo is every November and it's always good to be prepeared. Diving headfirst into it without any plot idea isn't the best choice. Trust me, I did it last year and that went horribly. I wound up with a novella under fifty thousand words and had to come up with another book idea on the spot. Lucky me I'd been on a cruise and I'd gotten an idea on the zipline, if I hadn't been so lucky I don't know what would have happened. I've already prepared my idea for this year, and while you don't have to get ready two months before NaNo, keep in mind that the closer it is to November the harder it will be to get your idea in working order.

I'm sure that at least some of you now about NaNo, but those of you that don't should definitely go check it out! It's the best thing you'll do in your author life, well, maybe second to publishing. Here's the link to the site- http://www.nanowrimo.org/ 

Note- If you're under thirteen you'll have to get an account in their Young Writer's Program. http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/