National Novel Writing Month
November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, as it is affectionately known by writers. It is a thirty-day challenge to write the first draft of a novel or at least 50,000 words. The initiative was founded by Chris Baty in San Francisco in 1999. It became a nonprofit in 2005, and the current Website and format was launched in 2011. For some creative, productive individuals, a month may be sufficient to get the initial kernel of a book on paper. For most, the time period is just the beginning. Others may use the time to continue to work on an existing project. Some writers are “plotters”: they meticulously outline their novel thread before putting pen to paper to start their book. Others are “pantsers”: these Authors jot down their stories as the ideas come to them. I use a combination of the two processes. I start a list of general concepts and main characters, then begin to type. The NaNoWriMo website provides tracking options. A graph shows how much progress the ...