NaNoWriMo – What is it? And How is it Pronounced?

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this November.  The brainchild of Chris Baty, it began in July 1999 with twenty-one participants.  The writing event was moved to November and the number of participants grew each year.  I think once word spread and internet technology was used for registration it became more international than national. 

The premise of the exercise is to write a 50,000 word novel (these days most publishers consider this word count a novella) in one month.  To be an official participant, you register on the site at http://nanowrimo.org and begin writing November 1st.  Update your word count electronically as often as you choose, but you will only receive your badge and .pdf winner certificate once your word count is validated at 50,000 or above near the end of the month.  The deadline is 11:59pm local time on November 30th to have all your words written and validated.  You can outline and plot (or not) to your heart’s content prior to November 1st but you can’t include anything in your novel that was written outside of the month.  Writing can continue beyond November 30th but it won’t count towards the winner’s certificate.

You can choose to do this on your own with Chris Baty’s book No Plot? No Problem! as your guide.  However, the synergy and ideas that come from thousands of others writing at the same time is invaluable.  Many people put “writing a novel” on their life lists.  This is one way to push towards the goal.  What better time to accomplish it than now?  For writers, this can be an awakening for them.  Writing is hard work.  Writing does require sacrifice (which often results in dirty dwellings or a month long diet of ramen noodles for the family) but if you’re serious about writing, this is a great exercise.  I’ve participated since 2006.  I may not have “won” every year but I’ve learned a lot about myself as a writer. 

How is NaNoWriMo Pronounced?

One topic of debate is how is NaNoWriMo pronouned?  Is it na-nä-rÄ«-mō or na-nä-re-mō?  At kick-off parties and writer groups this has been discussed.  WriMoRadio answers the question.  It’s rÄ« as in writing, not re as in reading.  Every month should be a national reading month. 

I hope you enjoyed my first post on NaNoWriMo.  More posts about NaNoWriMo will be here in the upcoming weeks.