National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month

Web address	www.nanowrimo.org
Commercial?	No
Launched	July 1, 1999 (1999-07-01)
Alexa rank	1571 (as of November 2011)[1]
Current status	Active

National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo, "na-noh-RY-moh"),^[2] is an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write 50,000 words (the minimum number of words for a novel) from November 1 until the deadline at 11:59PM on November 30. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to get people writing and keep them motivated throughout the process. The website provides participants with tips for writer's block, local places writers participating in NaNoWriMo are meeting, and an online community of support. The idea is to focus on completion instead of perfection. NaNoWriMo focuses on the length of a work rather than the quality, encouraging writers to finish their first draft so that it can later be edited at the author's discretion.^[3] NaNoWriMo's main goal is to encourage creativity worldwide.^[4] The project started in July 1999 with 21 participants, but by the 2010 event, over 200,000 people took part and wrote a total of over 2.8 billion words.^[5]

Writers wishing to participate first register on the project's website, where they can post profiles and information about their novels, including synopses and excerpts. Word counts are validated on the site, with writers submitting a copy of their novel for automatic counting. Municipal leaders and regional forums help connect local writers, holding writing events and providing encouragement.

There was also an associated script-writing challenge in April called Script Frenzy. This event was cancelled after its 2012 run due to declining participation.^[6]

History

Freelance writer Chris Baty started the project in July 1999 with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area.^[7][8] In 2000, it was moved to November "to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather."^[9][10][11] and launched an official website, designed by a friend of Baty's.^[10] That year 140 participants signed up for the event, including several from other countries. Baty launched a Yahoo! group to facilitate socialization between participants and, after the posters began asking about guidelines, he set most of the event's basic ground rules: the novel must be new, cannot be co-authored, and must be submitted in time to be verified. Of the 140 participants, 29 completed the challenge as manually verified by Baty himself.^[10][11]

The following year, Baty expected similar numbers but 5,000 participants registered, which he credits to news of the event being spread by bloggers and later being reported on by various news organizations including the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.^[10][11] Though Baty was happy with the large turnout and popularity of the event, it nearly did not happen as the website had a number of problems^[10][11] leading to participants being asked to post themselves as winners on an honor system; in the end, 700 people would do so.^[11]

2002 saw technical improvements and increased automation to the site and media attention from National Public Radio^[2] and CBS Evening News drew increased attention and a participant count of 14,000. The next year, the NaNoWriMo team began the Municipal Liaison program and sent out the first set of pep talk emails. Baty also began work on "No Plot? No Problem!" during the 2003 NaNoWriMo, writing the NaNoWriMo guide concurrent with his own fiction novel.

The event continued to grow strongly every year. In 2005-06 NaNoWriMo was registered as a nonprofit organization,^[7][8] which became the Office of Letters and Light. By 2013 over 400,000 people participated (in 2010 it was calculated that 2,872,682,109 words were written.^[12])

In 2011, the NaNoWriMo website was given a new layout and forums and Baty announced that he would be stepping down as Executive Director in January 2012 to pursue a full-time writing career.^[13] Grant Faulkner took his position as Executive Director. The redesigned website moved from being based on Drupal to Ruby-on-Rails.^[14] During the first month after launch, the new website supported over 1,000,000 visitors and more than 39,000,000 pageviews.^[15]

In 2015, all programs are getting new sites.

Rules

Participants' novels can be on any theme, in any genre of fiction, and in any language. Everything from fanfiction, which uses trademarked characters, to novels in poem format, and even metafiction is allowed; according to the website's FAQ, "If you believe you're writing a novel, we believe you're writing a novel too."^[16] Starting at 12:00 am on November 1, novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before 11:59:59 pm on November 30, local time.^[17] Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no earlier written material can go into the body of the novel, nor is one allowed to start early and then finish 30 days from that start point.^[18]

Participants write either a complete novel of 50,000 words, or simply the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later.^[19] Notable novels of roughly 50,000 words include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Brave New World, and The Great Gatsby. Some participants set higher goals for themselves, like writing upwards of 100,000 words, or completing two or more separate novels. To win NaNoWriMo, participants must write an average of approximately 1,667 words per day. Organizers of the event say that the aim is simply to get people to start writing, using the deadline as an incentive to get the story going and to put words to paper.^[20] There is no fee to participate in NaNoWriMo; registration is only required for novel verification.

No official prizes are awarded for length, quality, or speed. Anyone who reaches the 50,000 word mark is declared a winner. Beginning November 25, participants can submit their novel to be automatically verified for length and receive a printable certificate, an icon they can display on the web, and inclusion on the list of winners. No precautions are taken to prevent cheating; since the only significant reward for winning is the finished novel itself and the satisfaction of having written it, there is little incentive to cheat. Novels are verified for word count by software, and may be scrambled or otherwise encrypted before being submitted for verification, although the software does not keep any other record of text input. It is possible to win without anyone other than the author ever seeing or reading the novel.

In October 2008, the self-publishing company CreateSpace teamed up with NaNoWriMo to begin offering winners a single free, paperback proof copy of their manuscripts, with the option to use the proof to then sell the novel on Amazon.com.^[21] In 2011, CreateSpace offered winners five free, paperback proof copies of their manuscripts.

Community

The official forums provide a place for advice, information, criticism, support, and an opportunity for "collective procrastination."^[22] The forums are available from the beginning of October, when signups for the year begin, until late September, when they are archived and the database is wiped in preparation for the next year.

Most regions have one or more Municipal Liaisons (ML) assigned to them, who are volunteers that help with organizing local events. MLs are encouraged to coordinate at least two kinds of meet-ups; a kickoff party, and a "Thank God It's Over" party to celebrate successes and share novels. Kickoff parties are often held the weekend before November to give local writers a chance to meet and get geared up, although some are held on Halloween night past midnight so writers start writing in a community setting. Other events may be scheduled, including weekend meet-ups or overnight write-ins.^[23]

Starting in more recent years, NaNoWriMo now hosts a fundraising Write-a-thon event every November called 'The Night of Writing Dangerously', held in San Francisco. The first 250 participants to raise at least $250 receive reservations at this event. It has been described as a "mid-November extravaganza of food, drink, and lots and lots of noveling".^[24] From 5 pm to 11 pm, hundreds of writers are gathered together in the Julia Morgan Ballroom to eat, chat, exchange excerpts, enter raffle contests, listen to speeches, meet the staff, but most of all, to write. Every hour or so, a 10–20 minute 'word war' is held in which the entire room falls almost completely silent with concentration, save for the sound of keystrokes. Whoever writes the most words in the allotted time frame is temporarily awarded the much-coveted flower pot hat. If a guest reaches the goal of 50,000 words while at the event, they are allowed to ring a bell kept at the stage, and receive much cheering. There are lots of sponsors for this event, many of which are the donors of most of the raffle prizes. In 2011, this fundraiser raised over $50,000.

Programs

In 2005, NaNoWriMo started the Young Writers Program (YWP), primarily aimed at classrooms of kindergarten through 12th-grade students. It is also used by homeschoolers. The difference from the regular program and the YWP was that kids could choose how many words to try to write. The standard wordcount goal for a young writer is 30,000. In its inaugural year, the program was used in 150 classrooms and involved 4000 students. Teachers register their classroom for participation and are sent a starter kit of materials to use in the class which includes reward items like stickers and pencils. Lesson plans and writing ideas are also offered as resources to teachers, while students can communicate through the program's forums.^[25] The only age restriction on the YWP is no one can be over 18; when a user turns 18, they are sent to the main site.

In September 2006, NaNoWriMo officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating under the name "The Office of Letters and Light". All contributions are tax-deductible under U.S. law. Donations can be made directly, or users can purchase items such as T-shirts and mugs from the NaNoWriMo store. In 2004, NaNoWriMo partnered with child literacy non-profit Room to Read, and continued that partnership for three years. Fifty percent of net proceeds from 2004 to 2006 were used to build libraries in Southeast Asia; three were built in Cambodia, seven in Laos, and seven in Vietnam. The program was retired in 2007 to refocus resources on NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers Program.^[26]

NaNoWriMo runs a Laptop Loaner program for those who do not have regular access to a computer or word processor. Old, yet functional, laptops are donated from NaNoWriMo participants. Those wishing to borrow a laptop are required to cover the cost of shipping it back and must send a $300 deposit along with proof of identity, but are not charged a fee for using the laptops. In 2006, AlphaSmart, Inc. donated 25 brand-new Neos to expand the Laptop Loaner library with the promise of 25 more over the next two years.^[27]

A summer version of NaNoWriMo, called Camp NaNoWriMo, launched in 2011. Two sessions were held, one in July and one in August; however, the months were switched to June and August for Camp NaNoWriMo 2012. The two months were then switched to April and July for 2013 and 2014. The rules used for the main event in November also applied to each Camp NaNoWriMo session.^[28] The Camp NaNoWriMo website does not have forums, but participants may choose to join a group of up to eight writers, called a cabin.^[29] Each cabin has its own message board, visible only by members of that cabin. Camp NaNoWriMo participants may also choose their word count goal, similar to the Young Writers Program.

In 2013, January and February were deemed NaNoWriMo's "Now What?" Months, designed to help novelists during the editing and revision process. To participate, writers must first make a commitment to revisit their novels. This includes signing a contract via NaNoWriMo. The next step is to attend the internet seminars where publishing experts and NaNoWriMo novelists are available to advise writers on the next steps for their draft. After that, participants should communicate on Twitter via the hashtags in order to compare editing notes and interact with agents and publishers. The last step is to stay updated with NaNoWriMo's blog where encouragement and advice are offered by authors, editors, and agents. The main goal of these "Now What?" Months is to get novelists published.^[30]

Published NaNoWriMo novels

Since 2006, roughly 100 NaNoWriMo novels have been published via traditional publishing houses. Many more have been published by smaller presses or self-published.^[31] Some notable titles include:

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill^[32]
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, published by Doubleday^[33]
• Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, published by Delacorte Press^[32]
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, published by St. Martin's Press^[34][35]
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, published by Dutton Juvenile^[34][36]
• The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough, published by Del Rey Books^[37]
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer, published by Square Fish^[34]
• Side Effects May Vary, by Julie Murphy, published by HarperCollins Publishers^[34][38]
• Assassin’s Heart, by Sarah Ahiers, published by HarperCollins Publishers^[34][39]

Spin-off events

• Southern Cross Novel Challenge: southern hemisphere version of event that ran in June from 2007-2013.
• NaNoRenO: creating visual novels in March of every year.
• NaNoMangO: creating manga in November of every year.

References

External links

• Official website
• Camp NaNoWriMo Site
• (2007) Three-Part, In-Depth Interview with founder Chris Baty at Writer Unboxed
• (2012) Interview with Chris Baty at Terrible Minds
• Writing advice for NaNoWriMo