NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, kicked off its 17th year on Nov. 1.
The month’s challenge for writers is to create a novel—to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
The main events organized by NaNoWriMo are write-ins, where writers gather together to work on their novels together and socialize. They are also key opportunities for people working on novels to network with one another.
Events are organized through independent chapters run by volunteer municipal liaisons.
“The main part of it is that we’re here to organize all of the local activities that go on . . . We’re also supposed to keep track of how things go online, flag anything that’s a problem, encourage people to participate, and give them little pep talks,” said Kim McCarthy, one of Ottawa’s municipal liaisons.
They also serve as ambassadors of the program, introducing first-time writers to the rest of the group and the process.
“It’s intimidating for newcomers to come in and see all these people . . . They need someone who can welcome them in and say ‘We’re all very nice.’ As soon as someone breaks the ice, you get to know a lot of people through it,” McCarthy said about her role.
The events are all optional attendance and according to McCarthy, the month was designed to be inclusive and non-constricting to different styles of writers.
“It’s not required that you come to any of the write-ins or the social events—it’s just there if you want it . . . If you work best on your own and just want to seclude yourself to write, more power to you,” McCarthy said. “It’s really all about what you want to accomplish, not about the end goal of ‘I want to be a published author.’ “
According to Scott Delahunt, a long-time participant in NaNoWriMo, one of the most significant benefits of the month is becoming part of a strong community of writers in the Ottawa area.
“There’s a few writing groups that have come out of NaNoWriMo . . . A bunch of writers from NaNo have created a group called ‘November is not enough’ and have write-ins throughout the year just to keep the momentum going,” Delahunt said.
The styles of preparing for writing are also very different, according to Delahunt, with some participants carefully planning novels beforehand and others coming up with their plots as they type.
“This year I didn’t have an idea of what I was going to write until midnight Nov. 1. I don’t really do outlines as such,” Delahunt said about his own personal writing style.
The events are especially valuable to prove to yourself that you can write a full novel, as well as help you develop the habit of writing everyday
“One of the goals of NaNoWriMo is to get people into the habit of writing regularly,” Delahunt said. “When I first started, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea if I could write a whole novel . . . It’s worth doing at least once for the experience.”
