NaNoWriMo

What the heck is NaNoWriMo?

Prior to last week, I didn't know either! After hearing about it from my writer's group leader, I went home and did some research. What I found was a cool, grassroots adventure that I'm happy to now be a part of.

Started in 1999 by 21 San Francisco Bay would-be novelists, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Each November, writers pledge to start a new project, and complete 50,000 words by the last day of the month. Only 10 years later, and participation now exceeds 100,000 people worldwide.

The project has a interesting history, I encourage you to check it out: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Once you sign up, join your regional group. Your word count is included in your group's count - which seems to be a big part of the fun...there's some trash-talking on the forums...gives you that same feeling as the Seminole/Gator rivalry!

The only downside for me personally, is that you are supposed to start a brand new project. You can use an outline for a project you haven't actually started writing, but otherwise it should be brand new. This presents a problem for me, as I have two other stories I'm working on, and to start a new one will leave less time for the others. But I'm biting the bullet, because I really want to be a part of this.

There is no monetary prize, just the satisfaction of completing the job. I read several forums, people excited to be coming back for another try...people who had actually hit the 50K and had the honor of posting a Winner's web badge on their own site.

If you're looking for inspiration to start that new novel, here it is.

Prologue

At a recent meeting of a writer's group I sometimes attend, a guest speaker was talking about first chapters. When I innocently asked a question about using prologues, there were a few gasps from my peers. One of the women were heard to say, "Prologues aren't good. Whatever is in your prologue should always just be your first chapter."

Well, since I'm not one to argue with strangers, I didn't. And when the speaker gave a slight nod to the woman, I wasn't encouraged. She mentioned, "Prologues have fallen out of favor with editors."

Of course, I didn't agree, in fact, a novel I'm working on right now does include a prologue, hence my interest. What I felt like saying was that I am interested in writing literature that doesn't cater to what's in favor or in fad right now. The point of writing worthwhile fiction is that it stands the test of time, and many of the classics I love do have a prologue. I'm not one to write to someone else's whims, so my prologue stays.

Anyway, I digress...

This post is my blogging prologue - hopefully it won't be separated from the rest of my posts by too much time. My goal is to keep myself honest by relaying what's going on in my writing life on a regular basis. Writing is a solo adventure....i have no one else to please...i am my own muse.