NaNoWriMo

Happy NaNoWriMo!  If you’re participating, you should have at least 13,328 words written by the end of today (if I did the math correctly).  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month.  Every November, writers from all over the world attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. 

Instead of participating in the writing this year, I was going to do National Novel Editing Month and try to cut 50,000 words out of a novel.  I’ve only cut 3,600 so far.  I have a feeling that I’ve already failed at NaNoEditMo.

Last year, I did succeed at writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  It was a fun experience because I only had to worry about the word count.  I knew that the novel would be a complete, unsalvageable disaster that no one would ever read, but it was liberating to be able to write without worrying about the results.  I totally agree with John Green in this Vlogbrothers video from 2009.  (If you're on this blog's mobile site, you might not be able to see the video.  I still haven't figured out why.)

 

Happy NaNo, and don’t be afraid to suck.  Now, go write.