Do You NaNo?

I got hooked on National Novel Writing Month – or NaNoWriMo – back in 2004. I had just moved to Toronto from Glasgow, didn’t have a job, was very bored, and had something (I felt was) important to say. So on November 1, I sat down and began writing my first novel. For 30 days I labored to crank out a minimum of 50,000 words. I went to writing events at coffee shops with other aspiring NaNo-ers from around Toronto. I was interviewed by the CBC as part of the project. I got up on stage and read excerpts aloud to other writers. And on November 26th, with four days to spare, I hit my 50k mark! I completed the challenge!

Ok, the novel was terrible. It couldn’t even be saved in subsequent edits and rewrites. But that wasn’t the point! the point was that I sat down to challenge myself as a writer, and I met the challenge head on.

I tried again in 2006, but didn’t make it to the finish line. However, the story was so good that it will soon be available as an e-book! And I will be NaNo-ing again this year, too.

Do you NaNo? Would you like to NaNo along with me? Here’s what you have to do:

• Go sign up. Pledge to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
• Don’t panic that you’ve just pledged to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
• Invest in a good coffee machine. Trust me on this.
• Plot your characters and/or storyline between now and November 1, but DO NOT begin writing the story.
• On November 1, disconnect your telephone and get to work. Check back in here at Girl on the Write and we’ll compare notes.