So, as some of you may now, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Also known as “National Write Your A$$ Off Month.”
As a copywriter by trade, NaNoWriMo isn’t constantly on my radar. In fact, I usually only remember that it’s coming up in October, when everyone else starts talking about it.
Last year, I read somewhere that the point of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 and that even if you don’t come up with something useable, you’ve at least proved that you can write 50,000 words and finish a novel in a month, thus breaking that mental barrier that keeps you from finishing a novel in the first place.
Hey, I can work with that.
That was last year. This year I keep reading that it’s best to (*eek!*) prepare for this literary marathon.
Huh…wha…whutty-what?! Prepare?
Because if you don’t have anything reasonable to edit with when you’re done, you risk ending up with an unpolish-able turd of a book that will consume your writer’s soul.
B-b-b…but what happened to the whole “mental barrier” thing?
Again, that was so last year.
So, having once again successfully put off my own NaNoWriMo experience another year, I’m behind the curve.
Here’s where I turn into a good little hypocrite who cheers you on as you turn yourself inside out writing 50,000 in November. (I’m a hypocrite, but I’m a hypocrite willing to wave pom-poms for you.)
Without further ado, some resources to help you slog your way through NaNoWriMo.
National Novel Writing Month: If you’re going to do this, you should already have this site but in case you don’t, here you go.
Kristen Lamb’s Blog: Kristen Lamb, author of We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and a C.E.O. of WANA International, is currently dishing some great advice on feeding your muse and getting fit for the marathon that is NaNoWriMo. Start with Training Lean, Mean, Writing Machines. Good info. Check it out.
Melora Johnson’s Muse: I haven’t dug too deeply into this writer’s blog yet, but she’s posted a snazzy calendar, meant to help real people and real writers schedule out their writing month. Daily word counts, inspirational quotes — and a day close to the end marked “DON’T PANIC.” Plus how to Chart Your Characters for NaNoWriMo and other helpful articles that I’ll probably be checking out when I finally get off my tail to do this myself.
Karen Woodward: Another writer’s blog I haven’t fully explored yet, but she does offer more advice in her post Getting Ready For NaNoWriMo.
Now that you have more basics than I do, sally forth and write you a$$ off! I’ll be in the trenches with you next year. Probably.
Over to you, are you participating this year? How are you getting ready?
Rubber Ducky Copywriter 
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