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from nanowrimo's about page
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2009, we had over 165,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.
Who's participating this year? (There's officially 30 days, 4 hours, and 19 minutes remaining for 50,000 words at the writing of this post). I've had some trippy psychological Christophe Nolan style stories lined out in the past, but it seems I've never gotten enough motivation to dive in. I write ~650 word short stories on a regular basis though for school.
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United States24701 Posts
That's cool. I personally found one of the barriers to writing was to actually overcome personal internal resistance and get started. This basically tells you 'too bad, just write' which is what many people probably need. If I had more time in general I'd definitely be willing to give it a shot.
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I really wish that this would be moved to like April since November is College App season for seniors -.-;
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United States24701 Posts
How about a TL version to make a much shorter work? What would be appropriate? I think if it increased TL's participation that would be pretty cool.
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dam way better than my thread.
yea im participating. pumped to start typing away in 1 hour
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This is going to be my first time participating and I'm excited 
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I participated last year but only got about 40% through, unfortunately at the time I had a writing course and simply couldn't balance the two. Since I don't have any writing courses this semester I'm fairly confident I can do much better this time.
I highly recommend this to anyone who either enjoys writing but has never had the motivation to finish a full story. NaNoWriMo is a ton of fun and a great way to accomplish something to be be pretty proud of. Not to mention it's a great community with lots of resources and like minded writers!
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My friend was thinking about doing this, but said she would probably go crazy balancing this with all the other schoolwork. As a joke, I said I'd do it if she did it.
She's doing it. fml.
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This is the first I've heard of the challenge; sounds awesome. I have a novel floating around in my head but unfortunately I don't see myself having the time this month to write anything. Also still a bit bummed that I didn't win a runner-up prize in blizzard's creative writing contest... not that I should have expected to win since I'm not a seasoned writer and it was only the second story I've attempted to write.
Maybe next year I'll participate; if not, I could see myself picking an arbitrary month to do this on my own.
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United States4053 Posts
I have a novel I somewhat want to write, but I wrote the first five chapters about half a year ago. zzzzzzz sounds interesting though, I'll make a mental note to consider this if I get any inspiration.
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Failed several times. Trying again this year.
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can i write my novel here?
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Did it last year (and reached 50k words). Not sure if I'm going to this time, I really should though because I've been really slacking in my writing since sc2 beta + its release >< So this might help nudge me back into writing.
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First time I heard of it but it sounds like fun, i'm definitely going to try that.
Get ready for an awful, ridiculous and crazy sci/fi novel 
Good luke to all the other participants.
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first time. good luck everyone
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2nd time for me! GL HF GG!!!
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I did it last year, but got derailed by moving back from Korea (I think I got to about 30K?).
This year I'm starting a new job, but I'm going for it anyway. Though if the site were ever accessible that would be good too.
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hmmm, might do this right now actually. Sounds fun.
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On November 01 2010 11:47 micronesia wrote:
How about a TL version to make a much shorter work? What would be appropriate? I think if it increased TL's participation that would be pretty cool.
That would be an awsome idea. I would definatly participate
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Brunei Darussalam622 Posts
How about this?
Three different categories:
Hardcore mode: The regular challenge, 175 pages or 50,000 words by midnight Nov. 30.
Normal mode: Moderate challenge, 100 pages or 28,000 words by midnight Nov. 30.
Easy mode: A relatively easy and fun challenge, 50 pages or 14,000 words by midnight Nov. 30.
I'd be willing to make a new thread and keep it up to date if you guys send me pm's or whatever letting me know what mode you are trying and maybe a bit of direction concerning your story.
Poll: Good idea?Yes (7) 70% No (3) 30% 10 total votes Your vote: Good idea? (Vote): Yes
(Vote): No
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EPT
