Break Out the Coffee Maker: Nanowrimo 2008 is Here!

National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo for short, is an international event aimed at helping writers of all skill levels kick their writer's blocks, get the creative juices flowing, and set their muses into overdrive. The event's official website URL is www.nanowrimo.org.

The official month for Nanowrimo is November, but it is said that the journey can be embarked on over the course of any calendar month. Regardless of when you start your journey, the collective goal of each participant is to author a 50,000 word piece of fiction in 30 days or less. Over 101,000 people participated in the internet (and caffeine)-powered event in 2007, with 15,333 meeting the goal at or before the deadline.

Now, you might've stumbled upon my blog because you're a writer who used Google to find tips for getting productive. Maybe you're a new, or even established, writer who is seeking the community and camaraderie of other authors in your town and faraway lands. Or, perhaps you've always told yourself, "Dang, man, some day I wanna write a novel of my own, but I don't know where to start." For all of these writers, and everyone else in between, might I add that Nanowrimo just might be the catalyst you need?

I first participated in Nanowrimo in 2001, at the tender age of sixteen. My sister heard about it from a co-worker in her college's writing center that she was working at, then passed it on to me because she thought it would be right up my alley. Naturally, I agreed and signed up in eager anticipation of the November 1 kickoff.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my own computer at the time; just the family machine that I shared with my parents and older sister. This, of course, meant that my time was very limited, though I made the best of it. While waiting to use the computer, I would sit at the little desk in my bedroom, churning out my work with a ball point pen and spiral notebook. I didn't think anything of it at first, but quickly realized that by then having to enter what I had written into the computer, I was ultimately writing it twice.

Now, all grown up, I'm a professional writer and editor with my own computer, who spends way too much time in the old walk-in closet I've converted into my writing room. Yes, that was actually easy, and I'll cover creating your own writing space in a later entry. But for now, I'm getting excited for kick off night. Let's just hope that I'm not so discombobulated at work that I'm non-functional.

Go to nanowrimo.com for more information on this writing event.