NANOWRIMO

Before You Write Off NaNoWriMo

Consider these overlooked benefits of the annual novel-writing challenge

My cat, apparently stunned by a plot twist in my NaNo novel. Image by author, ©Grace Ombry

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, kicks off at midnight on November 1. The challenge is to produce a 50,000-word first draft in 30 days. Is that crazy? Yes. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it worthwhile? Read on and decide for yourself.

Way back in 2007 when I first heard about NaNoWriMo, I wrote it off as ludicrous. Why spend an entire month writing like a fiend only to end up with a garbage barge fire of an editing project?

I’d been hard at work on the manuscript of my first novel, State of Love & Trust, for more than a year and had a solid daily writing habit. I was certain I didn’t need NaNo to challenge or motivate me. I told myself it was a big waste of time geared for dilettantes.

On November 2 of that year, the NaNo bug bit me on the butt anyway. I signed up for my first NaNo a full day after the starting gun. For the rest of that month I hunkered down, consistently hit the word count goals, and produced a 50k fiction manuscript ahead of the November 30 deadline.

The resulting story was less than impressive: the plot hovered between weak and nonexistent, the protagonist was dull and the story tension was woefully…