If you haven’t heard, NaNoWriMo is going on right now. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and takes place each November. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days.
I must have heard of it for the first time three or four years ago. In 2013 two of my good friends participated (and “won”), then let me read their novels. I was more than impressed that these rough drafts were engaging and coherent. Plot, setting, and characters were all there. Maybe a crazy deadline actually squeezes quality writing out of people.
In 2014 I decided to give NaNaWriMo a shot. The result was the first draft of The Cause of These Disturbances (then titled Conspiracy Theory), 53,000 words long. I took a break in December, then spent January through November revising it. The “final” draft clocked in at 95,000 words. I began sending it out to literary agents — and that’s where the story ends for now. (Over the past few months I’ve gotten some feedback that has motivated me to plan another revision…)
This year I’m in the trenches again with my second NaNoWriMo project, which you can also find on my “Books” page. My goal is to reach 50,000 words on November 25th because during the last weekend of November I’ll be flying across the country for a good friend’s wedding. This past Saturday I hit 27,500 words, so I am on track with a little buffer!
The first time I did NaNoWriMo I had most of my plot figured out ahead of time, with each scene written out on an index card before I started. This year I am winging it a little more, so I know my novel is going to need a great deal of work if I decide to revise it next year. But even though my vocabulary is repetitive and the chapters are full of dialogue where all the characters sound the same and I drift into ramblings about how to bake a cherry pie, for the most part I am enjoying myself. This is the kind of challenge I like to take on!
After that long preamble, I’m now going to give you a brief history of NaNoWriMo, taken from the NaNoWriMo website and No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month.
- In 1999 Chris Baty was working as a writer in the San Francisco Bay Area when he decided to write a novel in a month. He roped his friends into the scheme and the first NaNaWriMo began two weeks later, on July 1st.
2. Six of the 21 participants reached 50,000 words that first year.
3. In 2000 NaNoWriMo moved from July to November “to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather.”
4. In the second year 29 out of 140 people reached the finish line.
5. Articles about NaNaWriMo appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today.
6. A new and improved website was built, including features like discussion boards and word count progress bars.
7. In just the third year 5,000 participants signed up.
8. In 2004 Chris Baty published the first edition of No Plot? No Problem!
9. In 2005 NaNoWriMo became a non-profit organization.
10. The Young Writers Program was also inaugurated in 2005.
11. Programs now include Come Write In, Camp NaNoWriMo, and The “Now What?” Months.
12. Over 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published, including Water for Elephants and The Night Circus. (Read about 8 best-selling books written during NaNoWriMo.)
13. Last year 431,626 people participated in NaNoWriMo!
I love how NaNoWriMo was moved to November. It IS the perfect month to be stuck inside writing!
And when it’s over you can get all into Christmas!
I actually think they should’ve picked a different bad weather month…like April, maybe? November is hard (for me, at least) because of Thanksgiving.