Hello, fellow Rubbers! How’s everyone’s Halloween this year? Did you go trick-or-treating ? Or stayed at home all day? My mum brought candies for trick-or-treaters, but due to classes we have that night, we didn’t give away any candies nor did my brother had a chance to trick-or-treat. But I was far busy to be upset for that, for I am busy preparing for the upcoming NaNoWriMo 2012!
So what is NaNoWriMo anyway? NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, in which in a mere 30(or 31?) days, you will have to write 50, 000 words (a novella size story). Intimidating? Yes, it is. But there are a few things you have to understand to join it.
At NaNoWriMo, you can write about anything, but it should be original. (It is part of the rules, but no one is going to check what you wrote, so no one would know if you are writing a piece of fan fiction.) NaNoWriMo focuses on quantity, not koala-tea (quality). I reckon this is to keep writers motivated and committed to write a 1,667 words every day to make it to the goal of 50,000, despite on November, is when a lot of events lie ahead (Exams! Christmas! etc, etc) Instead of writing and editing and writing and editing and never getting the story done, what about complete a novel and you can at least tell others, “I have written a novel.” even if it is a horrible one. It’s the first step.
For 30/31 days, there will be a word counter for you to update the word count of your story, and provide you a very handy dandy stats of the average words you wrote, target word count (which is 50,000), target average words per day (1,667), total words written, words remaining to your goal, current day, days remaining to 30/31th, “At This Rate You Will Finish On”, words per day to finish on time and a bar graph of your progress! When it comes close to the 30th, there will be a word counter available in NaNoWriMo and by pasting your story in, you win as you reach 50,000 words!
So… question time!
If no one is going to check it, how do they know if you cheat?
The thing is, they don’t. But what can you gain if you lie? This is a project to help you, either take it or leave it.
But how am I going to write 50,000 words in 30/31 days?
My saying for this year is this: “WING IT.” Plot? Outline? Monsters? Mainstream! Go with the flow if you don’t have an outline or plot! Too cliche? Too stupid? Too boring? Don’t change it. Or if you are really irked by it, make a line across and write your alternative ending. Try not to delete masses of paragraphs at a time because it will only decrease your word count. Don’t think about it, just write. (TIP: Someone taught me that writing without looking at the screen helps, and it did.)
What happens if I win?
You get a story done then, well done, you. You won’t get a prize for winning the challenge (Actually, you do! It’s a winner certificate and web badge!). However, you have a complete story in front of you, the achievement is overwhelming. Do whatever you want with your story! You could use it for private purposes, for your friends, or even for your future career. It’s up to you what you do with those 50,000+ words you get at the end of the month.
What happens if I lose?
It’s alright, love. There’s always next year. But that doesn’t mean you are going to leave your story unfinished after the end of the month! Finish it off, and you are too, a winner at heart.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
I am a proud NaNoWriMo participant since 2011. I found out about the challenge on Day 5 or later, and started writing. But my first try, only lasted for five days and less, ended up with the amount of 5,171 words. Mistake 1, I edit while I write (I got negative words on Day 4); Mistake 2, I lack an outline and Mistake 3: I was not motivated. But this year, after reading some articles, I realised I’m doing it all wrong.
Ten minutes before NaNoWriMo on October 31, 2012, I was waiting for it. I panicked when it turned 12AM, and I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote like a mad woman on that night, I got 2,000 words that night. I wrote what came into my head, without filtering, and collapsing them onto a blank canvas. Often changing point of views, writing a scene of what I think should happen earlier or later, an event of a character’s past, etc. Put stuff in. Put more stuff in. Repeat stuff. I was steady for the past four days, forcing myself to 2,000 words every day. Currently, I have a count of 7,554 words and I plan to reach my 10,000 mark today. Though I’m still repeating Mistake 2, but tad different as I do have an outline, but I don’t stick to it like what the post-November me had expected.
Doesn’t sound that bad, eh? What about giving it a go? This is NaNoWriMo’s official webpage. Check out more from there. And here, also very resourceful to learn more about NaNoWriMo. Despite that NaNoWriMo began four days (or three or five, depends on time-zones), you can join NaNoWriMo, perhaps you might not be able to hit your 50,000 count by the end of the month. But try to hit your best shot, 40,000?
