NaNoWriMo 2010

What is NaNoWriMo, you may ask? I'm not sure who designated it as such, but November is National Novel Writing Month. I participated in it last year, and even won. You can find out more about NaNoWriMo here.

Have you ever had an idea for a novel but never thought you could get it down on (real or virtual) paper? NaNoWriMo is fun in a masochistic sort of way, but it is insane fun nonetheless. Yes, that's 50,000 words in 30 days, and it's surprisingly doable. Broken down that's 1,667 words per day which can be surprisingly easy when you are excited about the characters, the plot, or any specific part of the novel that floats around in your head. In the end, it's the first draft of a novel - about 175 pages. I can't begin to describe how amazing it feels to hit that 50k mark. As for my 2009 novel? It's sadly sitting in first-draft form, waiting for me to resurrect it via editing.

So I've started with my preparations, if you call it that. I have a loose plot figured out, and my characters have begun to invade my brain. I'm trying to overload with thoughts of my 2010 NaNoWriMo novel, so when it comes time to write, it just spews out all at once.

We all have different methods to writing, and mine is heavily character-based. I don't do outlines or written brainstorms of any kind, but I do like to have a document with character profiles including pictures, descriptions, and facts about each character of significance. I build that as I go, working on it when I have writer's block or am just not in the mood to fully write. It helps keep me attached to my novel when words don't really want to come. Other than that, I sort of let the novel write itself.

I know this has zero appeal to most people, but for those that are interested at all - please head over NaNoWriMo.org and join me! I'm trying to talk Jeff into participating this year. Any other takers?