So November starts National Novel Writing Month affectionately known as NaNoWriMo. It is a writers challenge to create a small novel (50,000 words) in thirty days with daily wordcount goals and games to help you reach them. Since it began in 1999, it's become a phenomenon and more people have written books inspired by NaNoWriMo than by any other force on earth (they had at least 25,000 participants last year alone).
My friend Recessionista Genie and I read the book by the founder of NaNoWriMo Chris Baty's very funny and helpful guide "No Plot? No Problem!" and loved it. We staged an ill advised and impetuous LaNoWriMo (Lansing Novel Writing Month) in March. We started a group on Facebook and posted weekly videos encouraging people and reading excerpts from Chris Baty's book. Sadly no one ended up participating but us. But we had a blast. In the end I wrote a shoddy but complete novel about true love and car theft in Detroit.
Now the official NaNoWriMo is coming up fast. I have two ideas, one funny and one serious. I am not allowed to prewrite but I can create an outline if I choose. These are my two options, Romantic entanglements between a metal rocker and a culture vulture collector with nudist family or a tender and emotional ghost story about love and betrayl and the pain that lingers long after a body cools.
What will you write?
Oh my God Christina, please write the funny one. If only so you can bring excerpts to our writers' group later and make people spit their coffee and cry with laughter like you did with your D-Town auto theft love story.
ReplyDeleteI CAN'T WAIT!!!!
This November, I plan to write a fantasy fairy tale romance whose main plot begins after the "happily ever after" part. I want to take a break from super-serious writing and do something silly and fun. That way I can add variety to my stack of unfinished novel manuscripts!