NANOWRIMO: Writers and Novelists Wanted

Do you have what it takes to be the next big Novelist, Oprah pick or New York Times Bestseller? This November may be your big break, or at least that motivational push you need to get going. Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee, grab a notepad, and get ready to learn about NANOWRIMO!

What the heck is NANOWRIMO? The acronym itself stands for National Novel Writers Month. It takes place every year from November 1st -30th. It is a contest of sorts that challenges all aspiring writers to complete at least 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. It was started in 1999 by freelance writer, Chris Baty and 20 others. It has grown in popularity since that time to 200,500 participants and 37,500 winners in 2010. There is at least one best-selling book to come from this program so far, “Water for Elephants”, by Sarah Gruen.

Participants submit their writing periodically during November to update their word count. NANOWRIMO does not have any rights to the novel, nor does anyone read it prior to being deleted.To “win” a writer simply needs to complete 50,000 words of their manuscript. There are not any prizes for winning, the real prize is completing a rough draft of your novel or 50,000 words. If you are interested in participating, go to their website: http://www.nanowrimo.org and create an account. The site and contest are FREE. It is funded strictly by donations from participants and several large sponsors . The Office of Letters and Light, is the non-profit group that runs NANOWRIMO and they use the donations to fund the Young Writers Program for children. It is great for writers who need a little reassurance or lack that self-motivation to write each day by themselves.

The website has great information during the contest including plot and character ideas, forums with great participation by the writers. There are periodic “pep talks” sent out to aspiring novelists during the month written by best-selling authors to keep you motivated. So what’s stopping you? I have lurked on the website for several years myself and am going to commit this year. Go ahead, we’ll do it together. Check back periodically for my updates on my attempt at NANOWRIMO 2011. Current Word Count: 0

Source for this article: website www.nanowrimo.org


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