Nanowrimo: The adventure starts Nov. 1st!

So you remember that movie, Bucket List? Characters created a list of all the different things they wanted to do before they kicked the bucket. Included on my own personal list are the following:

• Learn how to ice sculpt
• Create a crop circle
• Write a Novel

Guess which I’ve already crossed off the list? If you guessed writing a novel, ding ding ding, you’re correct. I’m sure a few of you are thinking, “You wrote a whole novel? I could never do that…”

Oh yes you can!

November is National Novel Writing Month, a fun, fly by the seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by midnight on November 30th. By setting a ridiculous deadline you worry about quantity not quality. This approach forces you to take risks, lower your expectations and push yourself further than you probably ever thought possible.

Let’s not kid ourselves though, you will be writing a lot of crap. All of us do. But there is a sense of freedom that comes by simply grabbing an idea and running with it no matter what the costs, to spend the month creating with literary abandon.

Writing a novel in a month is by no means easy. It means late nights, carpel tunnel syndrome and spending more on coffee in a month then you normally spend on gas. But the sense of accomplishment you get at the end is near euphoric. It’s something everyone should experience.

Nanowrimo brings together writers from all over the world, all focused on the same crazy goal. In 2009 over a hundred and fifty thousand participants started vigorously writing their novels on November 1st; astonishingly over thirty two thousand crossed the finish line on November 30th. I was one of those proud few.

Need more to convince you? Another great reason to participate is that you’re not alone. Nanowrimo’s online community has forums specially designed to help you in your journey, a procrastination station to distract you when you need it and weekly pep talks written by bestselling authors to get you through the tough spots.

Sure there are many reasons not to do it. You think you don’t have the time, the energy or the creativity to write a novel. But why not try? You’ll never know what you can accomplish until you pick up that pen and start writing.

Ready to begin? Shoot me an email at heather@creativeburlington.ca, I’d love to hear from local folks that are as crazy as I am, or at least ones planning to write a novel this November. To become an official participant of National Novel Writing Month 2010, visit www.nanowrimo.org and sign up. And remember, crazy loves company.