NaNoWriMo (Nano) is a unique creative experience that takes place in November of every year. On November 1, participants each year begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Nano describes itself as ‘a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing’. Although it is popular in the US with online forums and meetups dedicated to Wrimos, it is gaining increasing interest among writers internationally.
Winners are announced in December, and it those who have succeeded in writing the 50,000 words before the November 30 deadline. And the prize is: the announcement by Nano that you have completed the challenge successfully!
Some Nano novels get published, in fact today 250 Nano novels have been published, and some even made into films. These include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.
Tempo followed the experience of five Wrimos based in the UAE: Daniela Raykova Ainsley , Simon Russell Ainsley and Michael Ellis Taylor and here we present their unique experiences. We hope in next issue Tempo will – if the three Wrimos allow us – to announce the results of their efforts.
Daniela Raykova Ainsley:
A Somewhat Daily Account of the Process so far…
Day 1: It’s the later afternoon and I don’t know whether to be more worried about not having written a single word or that after having written 3500 words Simon is suffering an actual overdose on coffee. In between furniture hunting for a sparsely furnished flat, Halloween parties, a Jay-Z concert and border runs to Oman I wonder when I’m going to have time to start my month long endeavor.
Day 2: I’ve managed to scribble a few words on my IPhone here and there but nothing substantial. The problem isn’t just that I’m having a very busy weekend, there is also the massive issue of not having any proper writing tools. It can be essential to have a keyboard (for speed), spell check, internet access etc. During NaNoWriMo sharing a computer is not a viable option. I can’t force myself to get inspired at given times of the day, and it often helps to fuel the creative juices when two people are typing away in unison.
Day 3: Feeling miserable for having only a few hundred words and I want to quit before I have even properly started. I detest what I already have written and don’t want to go on!
Day 4: After reading a bit from my copy of No Plot? No Problem!by Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month, (every NaNoWriMoer’s bible) and read about leaving my inner editor with in its pages (there is actually a 2D button you can press to leave your inner editor) and allow yourself to just write without judgment and criticism then you can get on with being a part of a wonderful, life altering experience. Oh! Also Simon was kind enough to buy me my own laptop and Michael got me a program called Scrivener which is a great writer’s tool and made specifically for novelists and screenplay writers. At 3293 words I’m inspired to go on to victory!
The days that followed: The biggest question on my mind is, ‘When will this month be over?’ Seriously every waking thought is centered on writing and coffee and writing. If you are not writing then you are experiencing self-deprecating thoughts of guilt and being doomed to fail miserably, disappointing your spouse and more importantly yourself. There are good days when life seems grand and what you are writing takes shape, but there are also the lows when you don’t know why you even started writing this dribble in the first place. And days when you cry because there are no little coffee elves to refill your empty cup. The month is half gone and we are either behind, ahead or within sight of our targets, will we get to the finish line in one piece or lose our minds trying? Now I must get on with my seemingly never-ending task at hand, until my fingers break on my shiny new keyboard because at 20,237 I am well behind the 25,005 target!
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Simon Ainsley
How I got my idea and the process so far…
As I write this on the 13th November 2013, I’m at 17,500 words and feeling fairly good about it.
The idea was conceived when I first got to Abu Dhabi in September – it came to me when I was re-writing my 2009 Nanowrimo effort over a pot of coffee at the Grand Millenium Hotel Al Wahda. (Yes, the work doesn’t stop when November ends!)
I made a page of notes about the idea and left it until November. When November 1st came around I got stuck in. I’ve tried to ‘win’ Nanowrimo four or five times (You win by writing 50,00 words in the month) and only been successful once, and I’ve found a strong start is essential or else your desire to continue dissipates quite quickly. I managed 6,000 or so words on the first weekend and aimed for the weekends to be my ‘killing ground’ – when most of the meat of writing gets done.
During the week I’m working at a very demanding job so I’m lucky if I can fit in 500 words. A nap helps in-between work and writing time as does exercise and of course: copious amounts of the writer’s partner in crime – ye old Caffeine!
It’s very important not to get discouraged by what you’re writing. As Stephen King says you have to destroy the negative thoughts in your head and show up at the page every day. My aim during these sessions has been to re-read very little and just plough ahead and write as much as possible in a stream of consciousness fashion. You have to slay your inner-editor and kill self-doubt and realize that you will have plenty of time to delete and edit after the month is done.
Helpful Writing Tools:
I always listen to music (BBC Radio 6 – Gilles Peterson’s weekly show or Nemone, Huey Morgan or Benji B, Toddla T on Radio 1) as it helps soundtrack the process and keep a beat to your thoughts. Sometimes TV in the background can help – I watched a whole morning of news and alternated the channels whilst I tapped away on my laptop: mixing BBC News with Russia today, France24, Al Jazeera and CNN. You can often find stories on the news and in newspapers that can be altered and used in your writing. You can take, manipulate and repatriate ideas and names from these sources and use them to refresh your thoughts. I also like to write to sit-coms or movies in the background.
I think it’s great to be doing the Nanowrimo out in Abu Dhabi as new places equal a fresh take on things and this is great grist to the writer’s mill.
Another important factor for me is keeping my ideas secret. Many writers will say the same, that telling people about your ideas before you write them is like a death sentence for your novel. In the past, I’ve lost impetus so this novel is staying firmly secret until it’s fully formed!
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Michael Ellis Taylor:
My Nano experience
It seems to me that NaNoWriMo has a lot in common with the famous Iditarod Trail Race held every year in Alaska.
Mind you, there are differences. The Iditarod racers have dogs and a sled, and run a cold, dangerous course of 1,100 miles across ice and snow of the Alaskan wilderness. Bad things happen. Both humans and dogs risk death.
NaNoWriMo writers have keyboards and coffee—many have cats. The only dogs involved, if at all, are more likely to be found lying on the writers’ feet than running across miles and miles of frozen tundra. Make no mistake—NaNoWriMo is also a dangerous race. Your cat could spill coffee on your laptop. You could break a typing finger by tripping over the dog on the way to replenish snacks.
You could get 20,000 words into your story only to realise that it is poisonous and evil rubbish.
It always starts out well, with fanfare and excitement.
Sledders pack their gear for survival. On the day the race begins, they take off to the sound of a cheering well-wishers. Writers also have survival gear—snacks, notepads, laptops, chocolate, tea, coffee and other more stimulating beverages. They plan, they plot. And on the first day of November they launch their new novels to the cheering of online friends and maybe, just maybe even reality-based family members. The beginning is exhilarating.
But now, two weeks later, that feeling of being alone in a vast, windswept wasteland has started to creep in for many writers.
There is an additional danger for writers: you can quit anytime you want. So could the dogsled racers, I imagine, but then they would be stranded in the middle of nowhere at risk of death from exposure.
Writers, however, can abandon a novel and drown their failure in wine. This may be comfort for the body, but the soul is in peril.
It is imperative to complete the book. It doesn’t have to be a race. If NaNoWriMo doesn’t work out for you this year, that doesn’t mean the book is a lost cause. You can—and should—continue to write.
By the end of the first week, I realized that I’m not going to complete 50,000 words this November. The plot is not complicated, the book was already half written and requires edits along the way, and I don’t have enough time.
I am okay with this. I still plan on finishing this book of mine.
Hopefully before next November.
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THINK ABOUT DOING THE NANOWRIMO NEXT YEAR?
Here’s what you need to know:
NaNoWriMo Toolkit- Want to try your hand at novel writing? Here are some resources on what you need to get started and to keep you on track once you do.
The book- No Plot? No Problem! A LOW-STRESS, HIGH-VELOCITY Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
The Links and websites- http://nanowrimo.org/
https://www.facebook.com/nanowrimo
https://twitter.com/NaNoWriMO
http://www.fanstory.com/index1.jsp?at=142&nano=1
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/
http://languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html
http://campnanowrimo.org/about
