My mother being the genius and hot blonde that she is, sent me a link to a writing site. And, look! I’m sharing: NANOWRIMO . I’m usually the last one to laugh at political jokes because it takes me 5.2 seconds longer than everyone else to get the punchline. Point being, it’s possible that I am the last to know about this site.
The idea is to begin writing a novel on November 1st and have 50,000 words written by end of day November 30th. Say what?! I know. It’s ridonkulous. Those of you interested, Nov. 1st has obviously come and gone but the writing strategy can be used on your own timeline. I think it’s a little wacky and maybe that’s why I like it. It’s a hand-cramping, caffeine-infused, brain-tangling, forget-what-your-partner-looks-like-for-a-month kind of endeavor. I wish there were a site that charted my progress on how much laundry I can get done in 30 days, or how many meals I can have pre-planned. Oh! How many clumps of dog hair I can chase across the kitchen floor. I would be such a winner. All the time. A WINNER at life.
Also, I enjoy this t-shirt. *hint, hint directed toward The Hubbs* What? You’d be supporting a non-profit. Brownie points!
And So They Did... 
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November 12, 2009 at 10:02 am
stramullion
Or you could join my 300 words a day project. The idea is to write 300 words a day for a year and end up with 90,000 words at the end of it. I don’t think I could manage 50,000 in one month, not if eating and sleeping and general life stuff is factored in. Good luck anyway!
November 12, 2009 at 10:25 am
alissamiles
Oh, wow. 300 doesn’t sound as daunting. What do you use for encouragement on a day where you just can’t bring yourself to write?
November 12, 2009 at 11:25 am
stramullion
Well, just started blogging, which is the perfect displacement activity!
November 12, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Amber
I met a man once who had done the novel-in-a-month thing 5 times. If you add up all those months and applied that dedication to some possibly more fruitful activity, you could repaint all the rooms in your house, build a new addition, or completely landscape your backyard, and have something to show for your labor. (Can you tell I’m home-improvement minded these days?) Not that a novel isn’t impressive, but I’m skeptical at how good it could be having been produced at over 1500 words a day.
November 12, 2009 at 12:50 pm
alissamiles
Oh, I agree. And, they do touch on that on the website. For dedicated writers, this is about conquering the fear of THE novel. To write a novel is such an overwhelming task for a lot of writers. But to be able to say that you’ve done it whether it is good or not is a step in the “right” direction for some. Imagine what you could accomplish in a year if you get something slightly mediocre in 30 days. Slightly not bad?
November 12, 2009 at 3:31 pm
loandbehold
I thought about doing it, but it’s not the right time for me yet. I’d LOVE to be able to write a novel, and I think this is a stellar way of motivating yourself. Someday!
November 12, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Amber
I completely agree with the idea and what it’s trying to accomplish. And I think it’d be a great and fun endeavor to do sometime. But I think that subsequent efforts (certainly the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and maybe even the 2nd) should make you think that if you haven’t achieved some sort of leg up on your novel-writing fear, then maybe you should consider a different calling.
November 12, 2009 at 4:08 pm
alissamiles
Sure. I can’t imagine doing it this way more than once. I have seen a few published authors that have used this site for the past few years to jump start a new project. It’s definitely an undertaking and if writing is your thing and you can devote that many hours in a month to writing, than kudos!
November 12, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Cash
Oh, wow! What a great idea! Or, you could do something with your time that actually benefited humanity! Ex. volunteering to build homes for single mothers, working at a soup kitchen, candy striping, or strip mining the earth! The last one is how I’ve chosen to spend my valuable time.