Ready for NaNoWriMo?

by Helen Gallagher

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November is National Novel Writing Month and it gives you a great excuse to drop everything else and focus on your writing all month. If you are not familiar with NaNoWriMo, there’s loads of information on their site (http://www.nanowrimo.org).

You can participate as little or as much as you want. There really are no rules. A serious writer is not likely to think of writing a novel in a month, but being focused on writing and having a goal can be the difference between wanting to write and actually having something to show for it at the end of November.

By signing up (free) at NANOWRIMO, you’ll be able to log in daily and track the words you’ve written. And the motivation is nearly irresistible. You’re accountable only to yourself, and by logging in to track your words, you are setting a goal for yourself to at least try to write every day for the whole month.  You write on your own computer or in a notebook, not online, so your work stays private.

Thousands of participants have enjoyed this worldwide event, making it great fun. Sign up, log in when you write, and the system tracks your word count toward your goal.

You have nothing to lose. If you’re a past participant in NaNoWriMo you already know it does one great thing:

Every day it makes you think… makes you think about writing… and teases you into taking at least half an hour to try and get some words down.

Nice way to accomplish something special this year, and a great reason to celebrate the holidays after November’s achievements stack up on your desk or laptop.