Yesterday began a day of furious writing for many inspired authors as NaNoWriMo kicked off yet again. For those not in the know, NaNoWriMo is a mashed-up term for National Novel Writing Month, where folks challenge themselves to write a novella (50,000 words or so) in a month, comprised of original ideas and fiction.
I participated in NaNoWriMo in 2006, and despite starting on November 10th, managed to complete my little novel (about an MMO that reaches into reality) well before the deadline. Now, I have a couple of unfair advantages – the ability to write walls of text comes naturally, and I also hold a BA in English. But I still think that no matter what you think you might have for writing aptitude, NaNoWriMo is a good way to test that as well as your imagination.
I think geeks find NaNoWriMo to be neat for a couple of reasons. One is the ability to write fiction about a topic you might have an overactive imagination about, but never got the motivation to get to. Friends of mine have written stories about seedy detectives, fierce dragons, and even killer hamsters because they participated in NaNoWriMo. I wouldn’t have gotten to read (and in the case of the hamsters, laugh raucously) some of this stuff without NaNoWriMo being around.
The other is the shared community. Doing 50k words in a month is a daunting task, and the NaNoWriMo folks have made it a point to build on the community feeling so that people can encourage each other and help folks out with writer’s block. NaNoWriMo has forums, community updates, and encourages social get-togethers so writers can connect with each other and share tips. With social networking and internet communication on the rise, this has become so much easier and more appealing to the budding writer who needs a chance to express their skills.
I have a great idea for a NaNoWriMo novella, but after taking stock of my current situation (full time job, part time community management work, 3 writing gigs, and 1 more on the tap) I just can’t fit in a 2,000 word-a-day quota. I’ve opted to not participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but there are a bunch of folks that are that you should give some encouragement to. I look forward to reading these 1-month slices of creativity from my fellow geeks.