NaNoWriMo

It's nearly that time again! What time? Why NaNoWriMo time, my friend! http://www.nanowrimo.org/ Go here for more info!

In a nutshell, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a crazy fun, self-paced race to write 50k in just 30 days. The basis is, if you can just get the story down on paper (regardless of quality) then you've already won half the writing battle ("And knowing is half the battle!"). Most writers it seems, myself included, have a problem with just finishing the initial draft of the story. But if you can just get it all out there, then you've jumped the first hurdle. After that, you're free to edit to your heart's content.

I first attempted (and won) NaNo back in 2006. My story was called Measure of a Mortal. It's the second full length story I've ever finished in my life.

Yeah, the story sucked. I mean, it was pretty awful. But it was great fun to challenge myself and keep writing even when I thought I'd wrung my imagination dry.

I didn't get to NaNo it out in 2007 due to military obligations, but this year my calendar is (mostly) free and I'm going to go for the gold!

What do you win? Nothing but satisfaction...well...and your name on a long list of winners, but trust me, the satisfaction is a great prize.

And in 2006 Lulu Self-Publishing was offering one free copy of the winner's completed NaNo novel.

Yeah, even if Measure of a Mortal is a crazy bit of purple prose, it sits proudly upon my shelf with my name emblazoned across the cover.

That, is quite seriously, always the best feeling in the world to see my name on a book.

It really helps on those days that I'm just down in the dumps. That and the fact that the story makes me laugh every time I read it.



Anyway! This year I'm going to writing Pearl Shade. In NaNo you're allowed an outline and some notes ahead of time, but the very first sentence of your novel gets written at midnight on Nov 1st...Oct 31st kinda. 0001 if you're military.

NaNoWriMo = Writing Happiness