A Post About NaNoWriMo

Currently Listening To: Psycho, by System Of A Down

This post is mostly for my non-NaNoWriMo buddies who wonder why I torture myself with writing a novel in the course of a month.

Let's start with the basics.

• What is NaNoWriMo?
  To quote the website:
  

  National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

  Something to note: Your story doesn't need to be constrained to 50,000 words. If you have to go over that...that's good! The final product of 2009 NaNoWriMo was about 90,000+ words. Of course by the end of November I was at 52,000.
  
  
• Who can participate?
  Anyone! You do not have to be an English or Creative Writing major to play! Just have the drive to write! If you have some idea for a story...well then November is your chance to try it out!
  
  
• What's the prize for winning?
  
  A cool looking certificate you can print out. This year, if you manage to hit 50,000 words, you'll be able to get a free proof copy of your book. Essentially, it is a copy of your book that would be published. You use it make sure the design of the book is perfect. Overall though, I say the biggest prize is the feeling of "Holy cow...I just wrote 50,000 words for a novel!".
  

Now, I know lots of people who say "well, I could just copy a word 50,000 times." Hey, go ahead and do that. I don't know what kind of gratification you get for doing that (other than having a Word Document that has the word "the" copied 50,000 times).

I know when I took NaNoWriMo seriously last year, it was a very rewarding experience. Knowing I could manage my time and still output a decent story was something I don't think many people I know can brag about.

Plus I've met a lot of friends through doing NaNoWriMo. It's a very social event. You talk with others about your characters, your plot, etc. It's like going to a club about something you like: you meet people with similar interests!

I also have to add that no one is expected to have a polished, ready-to-publish novel by the end of November. For many folks, this is a first draft. December and beyond is for editing!

Overall, I feel that people don't take NaNoWriMo seriously because of the lack of a monetary reward. I personally do a lot of things without thinking about the money I could/could not be getting. It's all about how I feel in the end, which is something many (but not all) of my friends never understand.

(Oh, and expect a post on Sunday about what this year's novel is going to be about!)