I have a confession to make – I’m living a double life. Ok, so maybe not two lives entirely, but I do live a “normal”, in the flesh life, where my daily activities consist of working, going to the gym, spending time with my family and friends, etc., and then I spend hours of my days on the “Information Superhighway” – the alternative universe that exists only virtually but often intertwines with my physical life. These days, in order to promote your personal brand, you have to exist at least somewhat in the virtual space that we call the Internet – be it through social networking sites, in writing a blog, etc. In my virtual quests, I stumbled across National Novel Writing Month, and I got inspired!
The History
NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with freelance writer Chris Baty and 20 other amateur novelists. Their goal was not to produce profound and potential award-winning novels, but just to create for the hell of creating. They wanted to “make some noise”, and they thought this would be a fun way to do that. So, each writer sought to write 50,000 words in the month of July, and that was the only goal.
What the heck IS NaNoWriMo?
Today NaNoWriMo works like this: You can sign up on the website (if you’d like), which is free and gives you access to tips and tools to help get your word count up, forums and support groups where you can talk to other participants about their progress, etc. Each writer attempts to write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) in the month of November (30 days). The focus is solely on quantity, not writing a perfect manuscript. You can research, brainstorm, and outline your novel beforehand, but you must not begin forming full sentences until November 1. If you have completed the 50,000 words by midnight on November 30, you can upload your novel to the NaNoWriMo website, where the word count will be verified. If you have been verified as completing 50,000 words, The Office of Letters and Light (who runs NaNoWriMo) will send you a fun, downloadable certificate of completion so you can brag to all your nerdy friends about your accomplishment.
Sounds good to me! But why?
This focus on quantity, not quality, is what really allows writers to be successful with NaNoWriMo. A lot of people – especially writers – are pretty darn hard on ourselves. And let’s be honest – life is short, time is fleeting, and making the most of our time is the only way to get it all in before we croak. So, whether you end up completing all 50,000 words in 30 days or not, you’ve at least relieved some of the pressure that comes along with the idea of writing a novel, and a good one at that.
Why the heck do you care?
I’m telling you about NaNoWriMo, 1) so that maybe some of you will try it one day and end up publishing a best-seller that I, then, can enjoy; and 2) because I’m workin’ on a little rendition of NaNoWriMo myself. No, I’m not a novelist, in addition to my extremely thought-provoking, witty, and charming non-fiction blog articling (ok, quit the snickering). THIS – these blog articles are my NaNoWriMo. Since I will not be engaging in character development (except maybe my own) or plot development, it is a little more difficult to write a whopping 50,000 words; not to mention I’m big on success and reaching my goals, and frankly, I have a feeling I would not reach that goal in just 30 days.
So I’m writing 20,000 words for my first NaNoWriMo in the form of blog articles. I’ll be telling you all about what I think about the world and it’s workings, in particular arts, culture, and entertainment of all sorts. I will let you know how I feel as I write 1,000 words, give-or-take, each day in November. Aren’t you excited?!
Doesn’t that make you all warm and fuzzy inside? These are the words of blogging expert Seth Godin in a video on the subject of curiosity. Kyle Bylin, Associate Editor for hypebot.com, referenced this video in an article on the site. In the article, Bylin discusses the reason he writes for this blog about the music technology industry, which was first started about five years ago by Bruce Houghton, whose primary focus was to help the clients at his agency keep up with the changes that were occurring in entertainment, information, and technology. Bylin has explained his reason for contributing to the now-successful blog as simply curiosity and wanting to share his findings with others. And let me tell you, my readers – there is no other more effective means of motivation than curiosity! We’ve all heard such clichés as “life is a journey, not a destination”, and we know that if one is really going to try something new or make a change, one should “do it for yourself”. These are clichés for a reason – because they’re true.
