NaNoWriMo and the birth of the one-month novel

Juiceboxartists writing studio played host to 25 NaNoWriMos yesterday afternoon

Every November, thousands of people all over the world write fifty-thousand word novels in thirty days. The challenge is sponsored by NaNoWriMo.org a non profit organization that encourages, and shepherds all these aspiring novelists through their journeys. From the launch pad of each writer's computer, the game starts one minute after midnight on November 1 and ends at midnight on November 30. In between, local liaisons schedule "write-ins" to encourage NaNoWriMos to meet in groups to set word count goals for a three-hour session. I hosted such a write-in Sunday at my Somerville Studio—Juiceboxartists—where I teach weekly workshops in creative writing. Yesterday's write-in attracted 25 novelists, each with their laptops humming.

These participants worked intensely on their novels for three hours.

Several times a week, Chris Batty, the founder of National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo) sends encouraging e-mails to help us navigate through the ebb and flow of confidence, creativity, desire and available time to forge ahead and make the word count. Last November I wrote an historical novel about Pauline Cushman, a double agent during the Civil War. I had always wanted to bring my research about and fascination for this character into a written form, but previous attempts had been fruitless. Having the framework of a 30-day challenge forced me to immerse myself in the subject and to plow ahead, keeping quantity ahead of quality. After all, this was to be at best a rough draft and that's a good step towards a revision.

This NaNoWriMo participant reached her goal at Sunday's write-in