It's NaNoWriMo Time!

Every year in October, while everyone else is out celebrating Halloween or working on parties or getting ready for Thanksgiving, I am at home getting myself prepared for the NaNoWriMo Challenge in November. That link will show you how to prepare for NaNoWriMo, but let me tell you a little bit about what NaNo is.

Na - National
No - Novel
Wri - Writing
Mo - Month.

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. What it is, is a challenge to anyone who has ever wanted to be a writer to take the month of November to sit down and pound out a crappy 50,000 word novel in less than a month.

No, we know there won't be any best sellers written in only a month, but that's not the point. The point is to set aside that inner editor, inner critic, inner self doubt that says you can't write a novel and just WRITE it.

This year, I'm doing this once again. I have done it every year, did not 'win' the first year, but have won every year since then. This isn't just for new authors who have never written though. This is for new authors, experienced authors, and people who just think they might have a novel in them even if they don't consider themselves a writer. It's a chance to push the limit, push past blocks, and pound out something, anything, that might resemble a novel.

For me, it gives me a good working copy, rough draft of a novel I will spend the next year editing. For some people, it well end up being the first book they ever finish. For others, it might confirm for them that writing novels is where they want to be, or perhaps confirm it's not where they want to be.

Registering is free. The challenge is free. The friendship, the site, the writing, the encouragement - all free. There's even a Young Writers Program for kids to write a novel in a month too! You could get your kiddos to do this with you!

Won't you join us? My profile is here and the main page is here. Last year, I sent out daily words of encouragement and prompts to everyone on my buddy list to keep everyone inspired and moving forward. I'd love to help encourage you through your challenge!

Now, if you're not a writer or don't want to write a novel in a month, but you support literacy, reading, the arts, and others who do write, then I highly encourage you to consider sponsoring a writer for this challenge or making a cash donation to The Office of Letters and Light, the parent company that runs the NaNoWriMo Challenge. I have set up donation page here, for those interested in donating to this awesome charitable organization, which is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, and your donations are tax deductible. You can also see the donation meter on the right hand side of this blog and track the progress.

DONATE TODAY!

The money doesn't pass through my hands or through Accentuate Writers, but rather goes directly to the charity.



If you cannot afford to donate, please blog about this important event, get others to join and write their novels, write your own, share it with everyone you can, and please ask others to sponsor us in our effort to raise funds for reading, writing and literacy.

I hope to see you on the NaNo site, and we'll all go crazy together in November. Please consider a donation, and then good luck and thank you to all who sponsor, join, blog about, or encourage!

Love and stuff,
Michy