The following article was written by Kristen Keck, a Teen Associate at the Manitowoc Public Library.
Hello, it’s Kristin from the Teen Department. This time, I’m going to tell you about something that’s close to my heart—National Novel Writing Month.
You may know someone—or you may be someone—who has always wanted to write. It seems to be a thought that crosses everyone’s mind, however briefly, at some point in time. “Someday, I’ll sit down and start writing poems again,” we say to ourselves. “One day, I’ll find the time to tell my story.” Or, “I have a great idea for a play, if only I had the time.”
I’ve got great news. Somebody else found the time for us.
National Novel Writing Month (https://nanowrimo.org/), or NaNoWriMo in its abbreviated designation, was started by a group of friends who didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for. According to founder, Chris Baty, they “wanted to write novels for the same dumb reasons twentysomethings start bands.” Mr. Baty and company decided to try to write the first draft of a novel in thirty days. They picked a book at random (it was allegedly Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World) and did a rough word count to get an idea of how many words might go into a novel. The number was 50,000. And so the task was set—50,000 words in the 30 days of November.
Kristen Keck
It’s a real challenge to hit that goal. It means writing roughly 1,667 words a day, every day, for a month, regardless of work schedules, school and family obligations, household chores, and major holidays. NaNoWriMos stay up late, get up early, and take in more caffeine and snack foods than is probably safe for humans. It’s exhausting. It’s exhilarating. And it’s a little bit addicting.
I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo for fourteen years now. Every year has been an adventure in self-discovery, creativity, joy, frustration, and outright cheating to make the word count. It’s 30 days of foot-to-the-floor, anything-goes storytelling, following any plot point that wanders across my keyboard and the best thing is that it has given me permission to write. I have a deadline to meet. There’s no more “one day” or “someday” or “if there’s time.” There is time. The time is now.
If this sounds exciting, or just weird enough to be interesting, come join us at the Library on Thursday, October 26, at 6 PM for a NaNoWriMo Prep Party. Get some snacks, pick up a folder with information and inspiration, and meet other NaNoWriMos. Then, “Come Write In” every Tuesday in November from 5-7 PM in MPL’s Franklin Street Room to boost your word count, have some more snacks, and cheer on our community of writers.
National Novel Writing Month has grown from that small group of friends to an international event, with 413,295 writers participating on six continents. So, take a chance on putting some words on paper. You never know what you’re going to find!
