National Novel Writing Month - Home

Barbara Plotkin Gilchrist

Lindsey Grant — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:12:05 +0000

"I heard the boom of a 2,000-word wall crash to the ground."

With rutabagas and crispy shallots dancing through my head, I scribbled furiously through the last two-thousand words of my first NaNo novel while watching the nine hundredth hour of the The Food Network Thanksgiving marathon. Soon, I too, would be sitting down to a delicious turkey feast, my NaNo experience, a sweet and exhilarating memory.

Oh, wait…

I still had to transcribe my hand-written NaNo novel into my computer. (My eyes tend to glaze over when reading FAQs and I kind of missed the part where it said you could verify your hand-written novel in two easy steps. But let’s not go there).

Hey, I wasn’t going to let a little thing like typing 50,000 words in two days from chicken-scratch notes discourage me. I knew my three famous friends would rush in and help me if I needed them.

Let me explain…

I first heard about NaNo from a fellow Wrimo on November 17. The idea excited and terrified me at the same time. I had never written a story longer than 2,000 words in my life. Could I write 50,000 in two weeks? That night, driven by an insane desire for a coconut cupcake, I drove to the local bookstore with its insanely good café and purchased my cupcake…and a moleskine notebook in which to write. Properly nourished, I opened the moleskine to begin my adventure when I noticed a piece of paper inside.

It told of the history of the moleskine and the men who had used one to make their own history: Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and Bruce Chatwin (a noted novelist and travel writer). I felt that funny feeling you feel when it all comes together, when the planets align, you find a dollar bill in your pocket, and everything is right with the world.

I had my story! I would channel the tortured yet brilliant souls of all three men to help my protagonist finish a NaNo novel! I mean, talk about a creative support group. I commuted four hours a day by train and wrote in my moleskine until every page was weathered and felt “alive.”

Fast forward to November 30. I was typing downstairs in my makeshift office, the midnight hour looming before me. An Italian radio station was blasting music through ITunes as my head precariously hung in front of the computer, ready to crash into the screen at any second when…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Holy you know what, it was the burglar alarm. It hit me that a crazy stranger could be thinking of taking off with my computer and ruin my chances of ever submitting my NaNo-novel. (The mind isn’t always rational when under pressure). I unplugged the mouse from the computer and thought I could swing it at the assailant’s head if it came right down to it. By now, my American bulldog, Sadie, was barking furiously.

“Where is my husband?” I thought when I saw him walk downstairs, half-asleep, and proceed to turn off the alarm before heading back upstairs.
“But…what if someone is in the house?” I stammered.
“The wind made it go off. Now get some rest.”

I knew if I lay down all would be lost, so I typed and typed and made it by midnight. I heard the boom of a 2,000 word-wall crash to the ground. For one stirring moment, I was invincible. I bade goodnight to Ernest, Pablo, and Bruce and slept sweet dreams until early afternoon. Since then, I’ve had two more NaNo victories and gone to lots of crazy places in the process.

Still, you never forget your first.

Barbara Plotkin Gilchrist resides in Madison, Connecticut with her brave husband, two wonderful kids, Beth and Mike, her trusty sidekick Sadie, two guinea pigs and a rabbit. She has promised her husband that in 2010 she will not use NaNo as an excuse to get out of unloading the dishwasher.

Script Frenzy is now looking for Municipal Liaisons!

Lindsey Grant — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:45:27 +0000

Over at Script Frenzy. org, NaNoWriMo's sister event, we are looking for Municipal Liaisons. If you have participated in Script Frenzy (or have been an ML for NaNoWriMo), consider organizing a Script Frenzy chapter! (Perks include an increased likelihood of reaching 100 pages, the adoration of local participants and OLL staff alike, and the chance to meet your favorite celebrity*.) Come check it out!

In other news, we've heard from a great many Wrimos who submitted manuscripts to Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award. We're cheering you on, intrepid writers, and looking so forward to hearing what happens. For those of you still waiting to submit, the deadline is February 7. Remember, the world needs your novel!

Hoping to shake off the effects of my flu shot,

Lindsey

*Prices and participation may vary.

Kansas Lane

Lindsey Grant — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:32:13 +0000

"I wanted a novel by the end of the month, so darn the side effects, I was going to get one!"

To Do List:

-Keep up with seven high school classes
-Prepare for midterms and take end-of-semester tests
-Sleep
-Oh yes... Write a novel

That's pretty much what my life looked like during November. Of course, it was much easier said than done. Not having to attend high school every day helped quite a bit, though. I only had to attend school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For the rest of the week, I had four classes online that kept me quite busy, and two younger siblings keeping me too busy. My novel was shabby at first, my characters undeveloped, my word count hovering around 10,000 for a long time, and my sleep debt unpaid. However, I wanted a novel by the end of the month, so darn the side effects, I was going to get one!

Every day I would sneak chapter after chapter during school, and during my classes I would jot down ideas. My teachers were a little weirded out seeing, "Bombs? Maybe he dies by disease. Stabbing?" in my notebooks, but I had a goal in mind.

Unfortunately seven classes and 13K a day was too hard to maintain. Also, the matter of writer's block cropped up. While I did indeed write 52k, they weren't in the same novel.
Oh well, there's always Camp NaNo next year.

To whoever bothered to read my little story, stick with it, and if you have free time, you are one of the richest people on earth.

Adios, NaNoers,
Kansas Lane

Kansas Lane is a high school student, doing classes both online and at school. He has two siblings and a cat, as well as four unfinished novels. He hopes to write professionally in the future, enjoys NaNoWriMo, and cannot wait for Camp NaNo!

Kay, First-Time Winner

Lindsey Grant — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:33:07 +0000

"The concept of total public humiliation was the best motivator I've ever met."

This year my strategy was personal public humiliation if I failed. Literally. I told everyone I met what I was doing for November 2009: writing a novel, a fifty-thousand word novel. Some were astounded at the undertaking; some laughed. For me, it was telling people and knowing they were going to be asking for updates, and the fact that if I failed to complete it, everyone would know of my failure and they would have fodder to deride me for months.

Each day I went to class (working on my Accounting degree) and my beloved classmates ragged on me and cajoled me and berated me for info once they saw the battered notebook that contained my notes. (Ever notice how bedraggled a notebook looks after about a week in a backpack..?) It was the fact that everyone I talked to—everyone who knew me at all—was asking me about my novel. That made me make it.

The concept of total public humiliation was the best motivator I've ever met. Normally I don't let anyone know about a plot until I finish the piece. But for NaNo '09, I blurted out plot tidbits, character info, and anything else that I could to get other people interested.

I even got a writer friend so interested he's going to proof my deformed, disjointed and strangely written baby and participate in NaNo 2010. The fact that all these people, friends, teachers and acquaintances were watching me, asking for the word count, had me sweating bullets from the 1st to the 30th.

It was with brutal relief and the secure safety of my pride intact that I penned in my last few words to complete my novel and submit it to the word counter at 11:58 PM on November 30th, 2009. It was an even greater boon to walk into class at a little after 1:00 PM December 1st and gratefully announce that the demon-beast of NaNoWriMo was conquered for the year. There were cheers and comments and then questions. Oh the questions. I have forestalled the next stage by telling them all that once I have my CreateSpace proof copy, they can read my crazy little project to their heart's content.

Kay is a twenty-three year old word-addict and writer-in-perpetual-training. She has attempted NaNo since '06, joined officially in '07, and finally won in '09 with 51,353 words. (Joy!).

Let the ABNA begin!

Lindsey Grant — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:22:47 +0000

That's right! As of today, January 25, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award starts accepting submissions. The deadline is February 7, so don't delay!

Get thee to their website posthaste!

In 2009, a handful of Wrimos made it all the way to the semifinals! I like that trend. I like it a lot. And I'd really love to see a Wrimo take the top honor!

If you decide to submit a manuscript, let us know how it goes. We enjoy nothing more than celebrating your success! (Well, maybe celebrating your success and eating Schoco-Bons.)

Off to think up more medieval-sounding admonishments,

Lindsey

Jenna St. Hilaire

Lindsey Grant — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:25:47 +0000

"I spent most of Thanksgiving week and the day itself blowing my nose and running a fever and typing."

I spent the first six days of NaNoWriMo in Italy, without computer or internet access. The nine-hour time difference meant I could start at 9 AM on the first of November, Rome time, so with pen and notebook, I began my novel at the front of St. Peter's Basilica just before going in for Mass (see picture). For the rest of that week, I wrote whenever time allowed me to pull out my little book—on the streets, on the trains, in the backs of churches while the rest of my group finished touring, at the hotel while everyone else talked over each day.

The ten-hour international flight gave me my first all-nighter, and I spent much of the first day home typing up the handwritten pages. To my surprise, I had accrued ten thousand words on the trip—just enough to stay on pace.

This was my first NaNoWriMo, and upon joining the site I promised myself a win. I took the advice given in the NaNo welcome letter and told just about everyone I know that I would write a whole novel in November; the constant questions and the fear of getting behind drove me to get my daily 1667. Whenever ideas ran short I hung around the forums, which reminded me of what I ought to do, and the videos and pep talks fed me energy and motivation.

With Thanksgiving coming, I began trying to get ahead on word count—and then I got the flu. I spent most of Thanksgiving week and the day itself blowing my nose and running a fever and typing. I validated my manuscript at 50,272 words on Thanksgiving night, and as I stared in delight at the fireworks on the winner's page, my husband came home from his parents' with a full plate of Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn't eat much, but I felt like a champion.

I kept writing, and on the 29th, at 57,500 words, NaNoWriMo gave me the prize I wanted most of all: a complete first draft of a novel, something I had not managed in ten years. It also gave me confidence and momentum that I plan to use in revising this novel and writing others.

Best Christmas gift an aspiring writer could ask for—and I got it for Thanksgiving. Many thanks to the wonderful people who make NaNoWriMo happen!

Jenna St. Hilaire lives in Bellingham, WA, USA with her husband and a lot of houseplants and books. Her talents include reading, writing, making music, making people happy, remembering loads of random trivia about the Bible and Harry Potter, wearing the wrong shoes for an outfit, and daydreaming.

Bob Grant

Lindsey Grant — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:35:32 +0000

"The act of creatively inserting a random garden shovel, and the crazy woman driver who swerves to miss it, forced me to swerve as well. "

I’ve had a story kicking around in my head for a couple of years and decided this year I was going to put it on paper. I signed up with NaNoWriMo on October 31 and started writing the next night. I quickly discovered it was one thing to have an idea, but quite another to get it to be more than a few pages of disjointed thoughts. After almost a week of spinning my wheels, I did what everyone says not to do: I re-read what I had written and I hated it. There was only one thing to do. Select all, delete.

Two nights later, I started over, writing from a different perspective, ditching my early plot line, and letting my main characters do what they wanted. My pace was slow (I don’t type well – actually I don’t type at all), and 50,000 seemed impossible.

Then the Traveling Shovel of Death made an appearance. I introduced a new character that would become its victim and my story took off. My intended victim survived the TSoD, and saved my story. The act of creatively inserting a random garden shovel, and the crazy woman driver who swerves to miss it, forced me to swerve as well. Suddenly, I was writing without thinking and that’s when the fun really started. My characters became frequent visitors to my dreams. I would write dialogue and they would say things that made me gasp. More than once, I heard myself ask, “Where did that come from?”

My story includes a male character who believes nothing is impossible if you have courage and work hard enough. He was right. At the end of the month I had 51,000 words and the momentum to finish the story a few days later. I also had a crazy woman driver who might be the lead character when I do it again next November.

Bob Grant is a carpenter in mid-coast Maine. This was his first year as a NaNoWriMo novelist. Now that November is over, he has renewed his vow to finish restoring the home he shares with his wife, two dogs, and a cat.

Hey, look down there!

Lindsey Grant — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:54:43 +0000

It's the Wrimo Report, a new home page block! Being the new block in town, nothing would make the Wrimo Report feel more welcome than if you read it, told your friends about it, and then submitted your own NaNoWriMo story for consideration!

We're looking for the hilarious, the painful, and the downright unbelievable-but-true experiences you had this past November. We'll be posting a new Report every week in the off-season, which gives you roughly 38 opportunities to be featured! (And it gives me 38 opportunities to laugh, cry, and hopefully not lose my lunch.)

Bring it!

Lindsey

Robin Strachan

Lindsey Grant — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:35:17 +0000

"I prefer to think of it as my first out-of-body experience—and yes, it will go into a future novel."

On Friday the 13th of November 2009, I decided that with almost 30,000 words on my green bar, I could afford to join friends to celebrate their two-year-old daughter’s birthday. The event took place at a Serbian Orthodox Church, which also was holding its annual fund raising dinner dance. The church’s priest, Father George, plays keyboard for a popular swing band that was featured that night. My friends and I (who were seriously under-dressed for the occasion in jeans and sneakers) watched in fascination as couples dressed in formal attire danced to popular big band songs. Something about the manner of dress and the music made it feel like an event from the 1950s and I, of course, began to take notes for a future novel.

I was immersed in a discussion with friends about our days as newspaper reporters when suddenly I felt queasy and dizzy. The feeling worsened and I excused myself to go to the restroom. Halfway there, I knew I was about to pass out and lowered myself to the floor so I wouldn’t hit my head and bleed all over the dance floor (which was carefully polished with a special powder to facilitate gliding). Thankfully, the band was on its break, so I didn’t get trampled by any dancers.

It was fortunate that one of the better dancers also happened to be a cardiovascular nurse. She, along with two physicians who did not speak English, tried to revive me. Because I had no discernible pulse and my blood pressure was so low, someone called 911. Two ambulance companies arrived—it being a slow night, apparently—and a lively discussion ensued about who would transport my body. I regained consciousness just as Father George was making the sign of the cross on my forehead—a surreal moment, to be sure.

I was taken to the hospital where my fainting spell (called syncope) was investigated, although a cause has yet to be determined. I prefer to think of it as my first out-of-body experience—and yes, it will go into a future novel. I was told to take it easy for the next week while every conceivable medical test was performed. This, of course, gave me license to lay around on the sofa with my laptop and finish my novel, which is titled Manifesting Destiny. It was my first year as a participant in NaNoWriMo. There can be little doubt that it will be my most memorable experience as a Wrimo.

Robin Strachan, who lives in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, wears many hats. By day, she is a National Development Officer for the PKD Foundation (polycystic kidney disease) in Kansas City, Missouri. When she isn’t traveling around the Northeast raising money, she is a writer whose poems, articles, and feature stories have been published in regional and national publications. She also is an artist specializing in watercolor and pastel. She has two grown daughters who are enthusiastic readers and critics of her creative endeavors. This was her first year as a NaNoWriMo participant, and she plans to make it an annual challenge.

Bloopers, Outtakes, and Wisely Deleted Scenes

Chris Baty — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:09:26 +0000

In the true NaNo spirit, we rarely got it on the first take. But we tried. Oh, did we try.