NaNoWriMo on Iwaku!

[MiharuAya]

National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo is an annual, international creative writing event in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. It is hosted by a United States-based nonprofit, with the goal of promoting creative writing around the world. Their website offers participants, called "Wrimos" pep talks from well-known authors, tips for writer's block, information on where local participants are meeting, and an online community of support,

History:
NaNoWriMo was started in July 1999 by Chris Baty in San Fransisco, with just a mere 21 participants. The following year it was moved to November to "take advantage of the miserable weather". The website was created, and 140 participants signed up, including some from other countries though only 29 would complete the event. This was also the year that Baty set the event's basic ground rules: the novel must be new, cannot be co-authored, and must be submitted in time to be verified.

In 2002, there were many improvements to the website and an increase in publicity from radio stations and the nightly news. This saw the number of participants inflate to 14,000. The next year, NaNo implemented programs where volunteers could act as moderators in the forums as well as send out the first set of pep talk emails. They also created Municipal Liaisons who acted as leaders for certain regions under their jurisdiction, and they would organize fundraisers and meetings for NaNoWriMo participants living in their area.

By 2005 NaNoWriMo was registered to become a non-profit. Then by 2011 the NaNoWriMo website was redone and given a new layout and forums. During the first month after launch, the new website supported over 1,000,000 visitors and more than 39,000,000 pageviews

Baty retired in 2012, and Grant Faulkner took his position as executive director. By 2015, 431,626 people participated in NaNoWriMo. Of those participants, more than 40,000 won.

How to Sign-Up?
Those who wish to participate can register through the project's website, here. Once you create your account, you can add information about yourself in your profile to help connect with other writers, and information about your novels, such as the synopses and excerpts.

Rules:

1. Writing starts at 12:00: a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time.
2. No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point.
3. Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later.
4. Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel.
5. Participants' novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language. Everything from fanfiction, which uses trademarked characters, to novels in poem format, and metafiction is allowed; according to the website's FAQ, "If you believe you're writing a novel, we believe you're writing a novel too."

Are you going to be participating in NaNo this year? If you are, I'd love to hear about your novel! And, if you feel comfortable, link your NaNo profile down below and we can follow and support each other. ^^

Links

NaNoWriMo

nanowrimo.org

National Novel Writing Month - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[FenFren]

It certainly does intrigue me, and I haven't exactly started my novel yet (aside from my 8,000 word mini draft), but deadlines tend to stress me out to the point I just don't do it at all-

For those who do enter, I wish you luck, and find interest in reading any novels produced by the citizens of Iwaku! :0

 

[Dusk]

I've never won but I've participated every year since 2013, although last year was an absolute garbage of a year so I called it quits only a few days in rather than string myself along for the entire month. I'll be participating again this year. I don't stress about it anymore, it's fun to try even if I don't make it very far. At least one of the entries I did was something I didn't have any intention of sharing because it wasn't written to be shared, even if I had finished it or polished it or whatnot. I'm just here to vibe now. I'm not comfortable posting my account in the thread but if anyone wants to buddy up you can drop me a private message. I'm always happy to chat about things or offer some encouragement and support if you want it.

 

[Cosmic Fey]

I've participated a handful of time since I was 18 and will be participating again this year. I don't know how far I'll get, since November always seems to be end up being a hectic month for me somehow (last year it was house hunting starting a week in, a few years before that it was about a dozen family crisis in a row) and I'm not a quick writer by any means on top of that, but reaching the goal has never been the point for me anyway. I just think it's fun. That being said, I did win once, back in 2020. That was a surprise and I'm not sure it can replicated as far as achievements go.

I don't really share much of my projects since they generally aren't meant for sharing and honestly, I'm not sure where this one is going to go - I only have vague ideas so far, but if you're interested, you can always shoot me a PM; I'm always down to chat.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

So I've made it through the first week on track and not wanting to dump everything I've written into the trash where it fucking belongs.

Which means I'm doing substantially better than I have done in years past, I guess.