By Beth Green
“Um, why?”
That’s the question I hear most frequently about NaNoWriMo, the month-long challenge to write a novel in a month.
The implication is: Why try to write a whole novel in a month? Aren’t novels, you know, hard?
The question is usually accompanied by a blank, blinking stare as the other person wonders, belatedly, what kind of madness they’ve run across.
But that’s okay because National Novel Writing Month is one of these challenges that is, by design, a little extreme.
Like an all-weekend coding challenge, a vertical terrain race though mud, a bid to cook the world’s largest omelet, a challenge to drink a beer at the closest hospoda to each of Prague’s metro stations—NaNoWriMo is meant to help you push your own boundaries. Find your extreme, and hit it.
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NaNoWriMo presumes that every one of us—and yes, gentle reader, that means you too!—possesses the tools we need to write a novel in the 30 days from November first to 30th. For the purpose of the challenge, a novel is defined as 50,000 words, an average of 1,667 per day.
That’s the why of NaNoWriMo, at least for me. It’s a place to believe in yourself, to believe you can reach that distant target and show it who is boss. (You’re the boss, if I’m not making myself clear).
If you’ve been to Locus on Saturdays, you might have heard the pleasant tap-tap-tap of the keyboards of the Prague Writers Group at their usual critique-free write ins. (They write from 9 to 5 with a break for lunch; all are welcome). And in November, thanks to Will Bennis’ continued support of our challenge and our big, wordy dreams, we’ll also be adding to our word courts on Sundays (in the big conference room, from 9 to 5, MeetUp links below). Locus Workspace is an official NaNoWriMo Come Write In location for the 2019 challenge.
Join us in November and find out your reason why!
A post shared by National Novel Writing Month (@nanowrimo) on Oct 1, 2019 at 4:06pm PDT
About NaNoWriMo
Started by a group of friends in San Francisco in 1999, NaNoWriMo now has more than 400,000 participants each year. Each November the main 50,000-word-goal challenge is held, and smaller challenges take place throughout the year. All challenges are free to join. Sign up at nanowrimo.org.
About the Locus Write Ins
When: Every Sunday (Nov. 3, 10, 17, and 24) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
Where: Locus big meeting room
Cost: Free
Organizers: Beth Green, Sonya Lano, Sarah Shaw
Planning to come? Let us know on MeetUp:
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