The World of Wrimos

During the four month long summer, it's easy to become lazy and cease to be productive.  The days get lonely, and before long you're having heart-to-heart conversations with your cat.

Or is that just me?

Anyways, as some of you may already know, there is this wonderful online writing competition called NaNoWriMo (NaNo for short) which stands for "National Novel Writing Month".  NaNo is an online competition for writers of all skill levels, ages, and styles, and is available around the world.  Participants, or Wrimos, (as the NaNo staff like to call their writers) make a free account and they fill out the information needed to participate.  It takes place in the month of November and every day of the month each Wrimo is responsible for writing 1 667 words. If they keep up with their daily word count they'll have a 50 000 word novel by the 30^th.  Easy, right?  Not so much.

Personally, my favourite part of NaNoWriMo is the weekly pep talks that the staff write for all participants.  They're always funny to read, as well as motivational.  After a few lacking days, those pep talks were sometimes the only things that could get me going again.  Even more inspiring, is that some of these pep talks are written by well known authors such as Lemony Snicket, Scott Westerfield, and Kate DiCamillo.

I think this pretty much sums up the awesome-ness that is NaNoWriMo:

Last summer I enrolled as a member in Camp NaNoWriMo which runs the same as the normal NaNo season only it takes place in June or August, whichever you prefer.  The goals of Camp NaNo are the same, and participating in this program made the summer productive for me.  It was hard work, but I completed the competition and now have the first draft of a manuscript staring me in the face.  

The front of my Camp NaNoWriMo mug

The back of my NaNoWriMo mug

Being a participant in  Camp NaNo showed me the value of having a supportive writing community to immerse myself in, and that every writer has to start somewhere.  A year ago, during 2011s NaNoWriMo, one of the pep talks came from Kelley Armstrong, a popular author who writes teen series.  She revealed that the first book in her Darkest Powers series, “The Summoning”, was originally a NaNo novel.

Is this inspiring or what?

In my opinion, NaNoWriMo is the perfect jumping point if anyone wants to consider the option of writing novels professionally.  The NaNo staff are committed to helping you reach your noveling dreams, whatever they might be.  NaNoWriMo is a safe place for all writers, and in my case, it's made all the difference.

If you'd like more information on NaNoWriMo or any of the programs under its umbrella, or just want some cool writing merchandise, please click here!