View from Lookout Mountain, CO. Photo by Gale O’Connell
Monday, November 1, marks the start of National Novel Writing Month (affectionately referred to as NaNoWriMo). During this period, writers all over the world focus on putting 50,000 words on paper or in their computers. By not worrying about quality or pausing to find the perfect word, writers can bust through creative blocks and get momentum going.
The web site http://www.nanowrimo.org gives this description: “Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. . . . As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.”
One of the friends I made at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ conference encouraged me to join, and we are designated writing buddies for it. I’m really looking forward to the experience. In the meantime, I’ve been busy cleaning up as many tasks I can after a summer of procrastinating. I’ve almost finished my latest polishing of my novel, The Pine Tap Bar & Bait Shoppe, and will put my agent search on hold until after November 30 (the end of NaNoWriMo).
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