Friday 31 October 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014 - Here we go...


This is it. Tomorrow, National Novel Writing Month 2014  begins, and during the month of November, hundreds of thousands of people across the world will endeavour to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Why do we do it?

There are almost as many answers to that question as there are participants. Some want to be published, some write only for their own pleasure, but one thing I find is common to all - we do it because we love writing.

To write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days seems like an almost insurmountable challenge until you realise that it amounts to a modest daily target of 1667 words. Many authors set themselves daily word count targets, and 2000 words per day is not uncommon.

NaNoWriMo participants come from all walks of life, and while 1667 words might be a modest aspiration, not everyone has time to reach that goal. Life gets in the way. Some people start NaNoWriMo with firm intentions, but for one reason or another, cannot reach the big goal of 50,000 words. In the end, though, every participant has thought more about writing, and most have written more than they would have done without the challenge.

That's why I say that every one of the hundreds of thousands of people who sign up for NaNoWriMo will surely be a winner.