Write A Novel in Thirty Days?

Ever thought about writing a book?

Do you think you could create believable characters? Decide on their quirks? Hair and eye color? Hidden histories they don’t want to discuss?

Could you imagine a unique story world, send the players on their journey, map out their quest, see them through each crisis?

Tomorrow, November 1, National Novel Writing Month—affectionately shortened to NaNoWriMo—will once again challenge wannabe authors to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. Participants have from November 1 to 11:59 PM on November 30 to finish their projects. Emphasis is on the length of the work rather than quality, getting people to start writing and stay motivated through the process.

Sound easy?

Do the math. Thirty days divided into 50,000 words equals. . . yep, about 1700 words a day. Four double-spaced full-length pages every twenty-four hours.

The website (yes, there is one) provides tips for the newbie author, shares meeting places where other writers are gathering, and even deals with writer’s block. The goal of the site is to encourage creativity worldwide.

Writers can register their project on the website, posting profiles of their synopsis, and even excerpts from their works in progress. Word counts are monitored at the site with participating authors submitting a copy of the complete manuscript for automatic counting.

I’ve decided to participate privately. My current work in progress is already mapped out, setting is in place, characters are drawn, and conflict is in motion. What I need is the push of the daily word count to speed up my creativity. I tend to dawdle when the going gets murky.

So I will quietly join the more than 200,000 people who, since the project’s beginning in 1999, now take part in NaNoWriMo, pushing myself to add another 50,000 words to my current project, all of us collectively combining an estimated 2.8 billion words by month’s end.

 If you’re in a praying mindset, I could use all you have to offer. James 5:16 (NLT) says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

For more information see www.nanowrimo.org.