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October 27, 2009

It's NaNoWriMo Time!

You might already know that NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org), a time when writers all over the world join in a writing frenzy during the month of November. The goal: To write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. Sound crazy? It is, but it's also addictively motivating!

This upcoming November 1st will be my fifth NaNoWriMo kick-off day when I stuff my laptop into my bag and head to the nearest Panera Bread to write. I stay as long as it takes to get in my required 1667 words that will serve as the day's quota.

"Not writing fiction," you say?

I say, "Who Cares?" Join NaNoWriMo today and make some serious headway on your nonfiction book, articles, essays, memoir, or even your outline.

The point is to use the NaNoWriMo community as a place of accountability. Quite literally, you can track your word count, post comments, and check out how the writers on your Buddy List are progressing. It's a positive, pressure-filled (in a good way) environment that propels you through the greatest word count you'll ever produce in 30 days (unless you're Stephen King who's been known to write 2000 words per day on a regular basis).

I've completed my 50,000 words in the years 2005 and 2007. In 2006 and 2008, I wrote from 35 - 40,000 -- nothing to be embarrassed about.

Don't offer excuses that work is too busy or your family's too demanding. Last year, in addition to living the usual Frantic Woman's life I lead, I was in the midst of helping my daughter with the exhausting college application process as well as facing the grave illness of a family member. If I could do it then, so can you.

Stay tuned for some tips I'll offer in an upcoming blog post about how to cope through the NaNo frenzy.

For now, sign up. It's easy and it's free. (I always give a tax-deductible donation, but you don't have to.) After you become a member of the prestigious NaNoWriMo community, add me to your Buddy List. My author name there is "novelnut."

Let me know what project you'll be working on next month. And hurry! Only a few days remain before it's time to hit the keyboard.

See you at Panera!

Judy

Posted by Judy at 09:58 AM | Comments (14)