NaNoWriMo

Ahh, November. The spookiness of Halloween is over, the leaves are changing color before drifting to the ground, and people all over the country are letting their creative juices flow. November is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo as the kids call it.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the writing event that started in the San Francisco area, when 21 friends agreed to devote the month of July to write a new novel of at least 50,000 words. After that first year, NaNoWriMo was moved to November. 

Some well known novels written during National Novel Writing Month include Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen; The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern; and The Hungry Season by T. Greenwood. 

For years, I’ve thought of participating in this month long event. But, the thought of writing a novel was overwhelming. I was intimidated—still am—by the research aspect of writing a novel. I wanted to write something perfect for the first draft. I wanted to write characters that people wanted to see on screen. With all that pressure I put on myself, I just didn’t even try. 

This year, I want to do it. But, I’m not trying to write a novel. I do want to write 50,000 words, I just want to write those words into short stories. I’ll share my progress, and maybe the stories, here. 

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? Or have you in the past? Tell me all about it!