NaNoWriMo

As the month of October rolls around, aspiring writers from around the world scurry to come up with plots, characters, settings, research, time, and everything else required for a good story. The frenzy grows as November creeps nearer, with excitement, dread, and anticipation going in waves over each participant. What is the ensuing panic for, you wonder? NaNoWriMo! NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, takes place every November. The objective is to write a novel in one month, starting no sooner than November 1, and ending before the stroke of midnight that signals the end of the month. The novel must be at least 50,000 words in length, and may be longer. Anyone who completes a novel of the appropriate length is considered a winner.

I attempted to write a novel last November, but didn’t get very far. I’ve thought about it since and come up with a few reasons(besides my procrastination and indecision). I never came up with enough story beforehand and characters I cared enough about, so I didn’t have enough to write about and didn’t stay motivated enough. I think I need to do a lot more planning beforehand this time if I’m going to make it through this. I don’t have much of a story worked up yet, but I’m currently considering a WWII-era story set on the American homefront. It would be about the life of a family while the father is off a war. I don’t have much more than that yet though, so I need to get to planning! I’m determined to write more than I did last year, and I want very much to finish. I’ll post updates on my progress here, both while planning and doing the actual writing. Hopefully that will help me keep motivated!

Filed under writing | Tags: nanowrimo, writing | Comments (3)