NaNoWriMo!
November is National Novel Writing Month! A project called NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.org) has existed for about seven years and this year, I am determined, not only to participate, but to hit my goal. The way it works is, you create an account with them (it’s free - they like starving artists) and then spend the month of November trying to write 50,000 words of an original novel. It’s not a contest, so there’s no prize, although if you send your work to them for word count verification, you do get a nice certificate and go on their wall of fame. Only about 15-17% of participants actually finish, but I figure since I’m not doing anything else (working, cleaning, eating, those tedious things), I have a shot of getting it done. The point of NaNoWriMo is getting people to commit to their art and write the novel they’ve been wanting to write but have been too afraid to dedicate themselves to.
It’s a little daunting. 50,000 words in 30 days, even working every day isn’t easy, especially when you’re still formulating a plot and characters and all that. I had a hard enough time narrowing down a project from the ten or so that I’ve had floating around in my head. I decided on a slightly futuristic sci-fi idea that I had a long time ago but has been in my head a lot lately, so I think it’s ripe now. A lot of writers have said that getting started is the hardest part, but for me, staying invested in the project is really difficult. (Just ask Eji how many unfinished fanfics I’ve sent her that are still moldering on my hard drive. ^_^;;) I have the bad habit of chewing on an idea for so long that I get sick of it. Or I get stuck and abandon it. Or I lose interest once I know how it ends. I know; I have ADD. But hopefully I can hit 50,000 words before I get to that point. I just have to figure out a method of working for myself so I won’t get bored.
Standard publishing formats estimate word counts this way: double spaced pages have about twenty-five lines per page and ten words per line. So, four pages is roughly one thousand words. So the NaNo WriMo goal adds up to about two hundred pages double spaced, which anyone in a writing heavy graduate program would tell you is totally doable. Although, I know a lot of lazy grad students, so I think it depends on the person. I like to write fiction in single space, and I’m lighter on dialogue than on description, so that should put me at about 90-100 pages. I figure I’ll only work on weekdays unless I fall behind (or, you know, get employed), so my personal goal is 20-25 pages a week. I know I can do it because I’ve written 25 page term papers in one night (I was one of those lazy grad students). So, I’m going to get to work. Happy writing to everyone else participating. Wish me luck!
It’s a little daunting. 50,000 words in 30 days, even working every day isn’t easy, especially when you’re still formulating a plot and characters and all that. I had a hard enough time narrowing down a project from the ten or so that I’ve had floating around in my head. I decided on a slightly futuristic sci-fi idea that I had a long time ago but has been in my head a lot lately, so I think it’s ripe now. A lot of writers have said that getting started is the hardest part, but for me, staying invested in the project is really difficult. (Just ask Eji how many unfinished fanfics I’ve sent her that are still moldering on my hard drive. ^_^;;) I have the bad habit of chewing on an idea for so long that I get sick of it. Or I get stuck and abandon it. Or I lose interest once I know how it ends. I know; I have ADD. But hopefully I can hit 50,000 words before I get to that point. I just have to figure out a method of working for myself so I won’t get bored.
Standard publishing formats estimate word counts this way: double spaced pages have about twenty-five lines per page and ten words per line. So, four pages is roughly one thousand words. So the NaNo WriMo goal adds up to about two hundred pages double spaced, which anyone in a writing heavy graduate program would tell you is totally doable. Although, I know a lot of lazy grad students, so I think it depends on the person. I like to write fiction in single space, and I’m lighter on dialogue than on description, so that should put me at about 90-100 pages. I figure I’ll only work on weekdays unless I fall behind (or, you know, get employed), so my personal goal is 20-25 pages a week. I know I can do it because I’ve written 25 page term papers in one night (I was one of those lazy grad students). So, I’m going to get to work. Happy writing to everyone else participating. Wish me luck!