NaNoWriMo

Partly because I've got writer's block and partly because it's time to pay credit where it's due, I thought I'd explain where "NovNov" came from. It's based on a 30-day writing event called National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) where people all over the world write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. The Office of Letters and Light, the non-profit organization that puts it on, is not and has no affiliation with a publisher, so these NaNo novels are purely for the entertainment of their writers.

There are many reasons why NaNoWriMo is cool, but I think the most important is that it brings people together to do what is almost always a solitary activity. They are an extraordinarily motivated and optimistic people who spend at least 3 hours a day for 30 straight days to accomplish something that really has no prize except a feeling of accomplishment.

[In order to "win" NaNoWriMo, you must write 50,000 words of original fiction. As a 4-time participant (2-time loser, 2-time winner), I can tell you that it's a fantastic use of one's time for a month, winner or not. ]