WHY AND HOW I POPPED MY NANOWRIMO CHERRY

  

I’d never heard of NaNoWriMo until I started spending more time on social media during the very brief periods of time between working from home and sobbing aerobically from home for the last nine months, which have felt like nine bloody years. To be honest, I’m very new to social media and have learned all sorts of things in the last year – from NaNoWriMo to Writers Lifts and Pile Ons!

       If you too are new to all this, NaNoWriMo stands for the National Novel Writing Month and during November, the aim is to write every day a minimum of around 1,6000 words so by the end of the month you have 50,000 words towards a novel. I think it started in the States. 

       This is literally all the information I had, gleaned from one single Tweet I saw on November 1st, although I then became aware of writers (often young and bushy tailed) announcing their daily word totals. Being me (knackered, grey droopy tailed, bald patches), I didn’t announce anything. I didn’t read the rules (there are few; you can write whatever you want.) I didn’t investigate ‘what it was for’ (you can submit your work at the end of the month to get a certificate; everyone who reaches the 50,000 words is declared a winner, which is nice.) I just did it. And I think that is the true spirit of NaNoWriMo. No Plot, No Problem, as one of the originators said.

       I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it. I didn’t have an endgame in sight. I didn’t even ‘look it up’ and started without researching or making notes or planning. This is exactly the same technique I employed running my first marathon - do not try this at home - I just wobbled round without training, as a charity I supported got a place and I somehow just did it. Slowly. But I didn't die, and raised money, so result. (I over-trained for my second marathon to compensate!)

    I’m not a very trusting person, but stumbling upon NaNoWriMo seemed one of those marvellous serendipitous moments. A minor miracle. And, after months of anxiety where even reading was difficult, throwing myself into something like this was a joy. It got me writing again. I actually enjoyed it!! 

       I didn’t have a style in mind or a story. But it happened. I finished the project. When I say it happened, the words didn’t magically write themselves, but I sat down and wrote a minimum word count each day. Typical me, I miscalculated as numbers aren’t my forte and was short with a few days to go. But it didn’t really matter.

       What I had accidentally discovered was a life saver for me, no exaggeration. I’ve been so low during shielding, especially as I have chronic depression and anxiety at the best of times. 

I realise now that the NaNoWriMo community is huge. Hugh Howey began writing the utterly brilliant dystopian novel Wool during NaNoWriMo and self-published before it became a best seller— what an inspiration! Water for Elephants and The Night Circus also began during NaNoWriMo sessions, although Erin Morgenstern emphasises that she didn't to stick to the rules, such as they are, and it took many rewrites over many years to get the work into best-seller shape.

What I have now I am no longer a NaNoWriMo virgin is 50,000 messy words – a knockabout farce called The Lost Island of NaNoWriMo unlike anything I've written before – and a revitalised enthusiasm for just writing. It may or not become anything, and that's fine too.

So, thank you writing gods, thank you writing community, Twitter and NaNoWriMo. Thank you!