It's National Writing Month!

Starting Nov. 1^st, it’s National Writing Month. This is when writers around the globe write furiously for one month with the goal to reach 50,000 words. It’s not an easy task and it’s not for everyone. But there is no doubt that NaNoWriMo encourages writing and bonding among writers.

If you are a writer, you can sign up for NaNoWriMo here. You can keep track of your daily word counts on their site, buddy up with other writers, join forums to get encouragement and help when you’re stuck. There are even threads on suggested music to listen to as you write.

If you’re a student or a teacher, check out NaNoWriMo for young writers here. There are tips on how to bring NaNo into the classroom and getting student’s work published here.

I’m going to be attempting NaNoWriMo myself. I’m a little terrified, but mostly excited to tackle a new project. I’ll be videoing my experiences throughout the month, including how I deal with each part of the process as I come to it.

Here’s my first video for you to check out!

Christina Farley's debut YA, GILDED, releases March 1, 2014 by Skyscape/ Amazon Children's Publishing. She is represented by Jeff Ourvan of the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency, LLC. She blogs and vlogs about writing and traveling, and is often found procrastinating on Twitter
 

NaNoWriMo: Insane Or Motivating? Depends on your expectations and situation

Today's the first day of NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month! The goal: to write 50,000 words in one month.

I'm a NaNoRebel this year, but my friend Errol Elumir and I are doing daily NaNoWriMo comics over on the NaNoToons site.

There are many experienced writers out there who hate the idea of NaNoWriMo, or think it a waste of time.

As I mention in a blog post today, my take is as follows: it depends on your motivation, situation and expectations. If I had to offer one piece of advice for NaNoWriMo newbies, it would be this:

Whatever you do, do NOT send out your NaNoWriMo novel right after you've finished at the end of November, no matter how excited you are about it. 

If you wrote it in hopes of getting it published, then put it away for at least a few weeks and then start working to polish it. If you can wait until March, then participate in NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month).

My other piece of advice: Have fun with it. If it's not fun, then why participate? If you find yourself falling further and further behind in wordcount, building up stress and guilt and self-loathing, then maybe NaNoWriMo is not for you.

Although I've done NaNoWriMo in the past AND had fun with it, I've found the timing just hasn't worked out for me in recent years because I'm always away for a big chunk of November. So I make my own motivation as well as finding other ways to vicariously enjoy NaNofun....like doing NaNoToons. And being an extra in the 6-part web series about NaNoWrimo, NaNoMusical! First episode just launched, and I appear in a few scenes :-).

So is anyone else participating in NaNoWrimo, PiBoIdmo (Picture Book Idea Month) or one of the other November writing challenges?