NaNoWriMo (or, “writing a lot in a month”)

by John Bachkosky (11/1/2022)

November has arrived!

Like many other authors, I will be taking part in National Novel Writing Month, or “NaNoWriMo,” which is more than just a fun name—it’s a challenge!

NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with a straightforward idea: write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. Now, people all around the world draw upon their determination to get the story in their heads onto paper. In 2006, a nonprofit organization—under the same name, “NaNoWriMo”—was born that “provides tools, structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds — on and off the page.” They are dedicated to supporting writing fluency and education through programs like their Young Writers Program, which had over 90,000 participants last year. You can learn more at nanowrimo.org.

Every author treats NaNoWriMo differently, but the challenge has become increasingly popular thanks to fantasy author Brandon Sanderson—one of my favorite authors—who posts consistent updates about the book he is writing at the time under the name SandoWriMo (Sanderson Writing Month). Books you may have heard of, such as The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern, have started out as NaNoWriMo projects, too.

For me, November will serve two purposes. First, I will be consolidating feedback from the Land of the Elements beta read and implementing changes into a “final” draft that I will then begin marketing to agents in December. Second, I will be writing a new novel with the goal of writing as close to 50,000 words as I can. Throughout the month, I will post weekly updates that include the word count and some story hints for both stories I’ll be working on.

For those of you joining NaNoWriMo, happy writing!

JB6