What is Nano?
NaNoWriMo is of course National Novel Writers’ Month. I’ve taken great pains in the last two years to express that I support the event and not the organization.
The idea is that in November you write an entire 50,000 word novel starting Nov. 1 and finishing Nov. 30.
I’ve done this twice. Each time it yielded a tightly paced novel that needed very little editing. The only drawback is that 50,000 words is about 3/4 of a novel, and December should be the month you fill it up to genre standard.
What NaNoWRiMo is not
NaNoWriMo is not – I repeat not – a month where you START a novel. It is an event where you prove to yourself you can write a complete novel.
This is crucial.
Well meaning people are going to try to console hundreds with the standard lie, “If you wrote one word you won.”
All this does is condition would-be novelists to START and never FINISH novels.
Not everyone can be a writer. But more people are capable of writing compelling fiction than give them credit for. HELP them by ENCOURAGING them to win, and not excusing it when they don’t.
It’s harsh, but trust me – you’re not doing anyone a favor by encouraging people to excuse when they don’t succeed.
Help them instead to succeed.
