Have you ever felt that gnawing inspiration to tackle your own version of the Great American Novel, only to sit down at the computer, caffeine stocked and chocolate strategically placed, only to find the blank page too daunting to ever begin? You are not alone. This lowly intern speaks from experience when I say the white page is overwhelming. Far too often has it gotten the best of me, and I am sad to admit how many times I have surrendered and clicked open Hulu instead.
The non-profit organization The Office of Letters and Light has come up with an ingenious way to battle procrastination with National Novel Writing Month. The premise is that participants begin writing November 1 with the goal of finishing a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Part of the beauty of the event is that no writer is in it alone. When you sign up, you register in a region and have the option of finding other participants to commiserate with. You can log on to the website and post discussions and comments, and update your own personal word count. Then, between November 25 and 30, you upload your completed novel to the website to be word-counted, and celebrate with the other success stories.
The idea is to value enthusiasm and determination over the perfected craft in order to get people writing. Plus, it’s proven that once the word is flowing, more and more great ideas come, and some worthwhile work may turn up. The novel doesn’t have to be good! It is still a novel. And the event will get you comfortable writing every day and used to putting time aside for it. The event couldn’t get any better.
Yes, November has already started, but it’s not too late to sign up! Visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/ to get started now, or to find out more about the organization that supports writers everywhere.
Good luck to all of the participants!
Tags: National Novel Writing Month, Office of Letters and Light