LIBRARY BLOG

Ever wanted to write a novel but lacked the incentive or support?

National Novel Writing Month is exactly what is sounds like, but it’s both an event and an organization. Often shortened to NaNoWriMo, it’s a nonprofit group based here in the US founded on a love of creative writing.

Every year, they dedicate the month of November to encouraging novel-writing participants (affectionately called Wrimos) in their attempts to write a 500,000-word manuscript in a month. Their website is full of writing tips and “pep-talk” from famous authors. The writing program’s emphasis on quantity over quality aims to tackle the dilemma of writers getting stuck on writing a refined best-seller in one draft and never finishing their book. It helps writers to knock out a complete manuscript first, then add all the flowery revisions.

To participate, free online registration on the NaNoWriMo website is required. From there, the organization enlists volunteers (or “Municipal Liaisons”) to connect participants with each other in person and virtually and encourage writers.

To “win” the self-challenge, participants must start November with nothing and end with 500,000 words or more written, having averaged about 1,667 words written a day.

Here’s some books in our collection that were finished because of NaNoWriMo!