Leading up to NaNoWriMo, I’m going to tackle a few Frequently Asked Questions for both the Wrimos in my area and around the web. This one comes from fontiptoes on Tumblr.
So, I would really like to participate, but I am kinda clueless about the concept. Here’s what I grasp: Aim’s 50000 words in 30 days, but what else what I have to do? Am I expected to participate meetings and writing parties in my area?
Can somebody enlighten me? Please?
This is a very common question which is why I figured I start with it. To put it as simple as possible, all you need to participate in NaNoWriMo is to write as much as you can (preferably 50,000 words) in 30 days. Participating in the community (online or off) is completely optional but can only enhance your experience.Â
To go into a little more detail, once you sign up on the NaNoWriMo website, you can write your novel without ever interacting with another soul. Heck, if you’re feeling solitary, you can write your 50,000 words without even signing up on the website (though I personally think you should just so the nice people behind the event have a rough idea of who is participating).
The goal is to write a novel in a month. You’re a winner if you write at least 50,000 words. Ideally, you want to push yourself to get to The End of your novel which would be well beyond 50,000 words but, if it’s your first time, just try to write as much as you can and don’t stress over the final word count too much.
As for community, there are events both online and off. Once you sign-up, you’ll be asked to home yourself to your local area where an ML such as myself (ML stands for municipal liaison which is just a fancy phrase for local volunteer) can point you towards any local events such as write-ins. These events are usually at a coffee shop or library and are very chill. They just involve a little socialization and sometimes word wars which are a fun way to get more writing done by adding a little competitive spirit into the mix.
As for the online community, there’s opportunities for chatting, word sprints and more starting on the NaNoWriMo forums and continuing onto social networks like Twitter. If there’s nothing local that you’ll have the chance to attend, it’s a nice opportunity to connect with other participants without leaving your chair.
As to whether you *have* to participate in the community, it’s certainly not a requirement. But, speaking as someone who used to go it alone for many years, the community, especially the local events, really enhances the experience and makes it a lot more fun. It’s also a great way to make friends who live nearby and connect with other writers in the area that you can later form a writing or critique group with if you so desire. I’m personally very glad I got involved locally because it added a whole new level to the event.
For those considering trying NaNoWriMo this year, please feel free to post any questions you have about the event below (or, if you want to be anonymous, email me) and I’d be happy to try to answer as best as I can.
For those of you that have done the event in the past, how has the community (online or off) effected your NaNo experience?
Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction writer who loves writing of all kinds except for writing bios like this.
Thanks for all of the great info Hillary!
You are most welcome! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I have a question: do you think it’s possible to participate in NaNoWriMo while writing a master’s thesis? I tried once the year before I started grad school, but only wrote about 2000 words, and I’ve been wanting to try again. I know this may depend on the person, but I’m curious if other NaNoWriMo participants have done it.
I’ve done Camp NaNoWriMo (which is basically the same thing without all the fanfare) where I have done a Non-Fiction business book and one where I wrote a adaptation that required a lot of research/references while writing it.
It is possible, just understand that it will be much harder to reach the goal than it would be if you were writing a novel. Here’s why: With a novel, you can just make everything up as you go so you don’t have to stop and research like you will with a thesis. (I did an honors thesis in one subject in college while doing a regular thesis in another and that was enough work… I imagine a Masters is even more so!) But, as I’ve said before, I can type an average of just over 2,000 words in an hour (heck, I’ve done that in a 15 minute sprint!). While that may be fast, even if you can only do 1,000 in an hour you’d have the whole 50k done in 50 hours or less which shouldn’t be that hard to dig up over a whole month.
I find the community is really helpful- the forums and chat rooms are great for prompts and getting help with questions that come up when you’re stuck. And if you’re competitive like I can be [not that anyone would expect that], the word sprints that come up will really get your word count up as the competition builds in your bloodstream 😀
I am very competitive and I have to try to contain myself as an ML because I tend to forget that the things that would motivate me, such as tough love and shame, crush other people’s weak little souls and make them run away. 😛
Sorta like the fridges Timmy throws in the chatroom?
Timmy HATES me. It’s a conspiracy. Anytime I direct him to do something to someone else, he never obeys. He always does it back to me.
And if no one tells him to do something, he goes for me~ 😀