One of the best parts about NaNoWriMo: hanging out with and meeting other people who want to write a novel in a month. I hang out with “real” writers all the time, people who consistently finish and often publish their work. And they’re different. The NaNoWriMo crowd has those people, of course (hi! me!) but it also has a huge component of people who just want to do it–maybe yearly, maybe only once–because it would be fun.
The ability/luxury of writing just for the hell of it is something that a lot of professionals lose. Maybe they lose it because they get so focused on craft issues that writing is like doing homework for a class they might never pass. Maybe they lose it because they’re getting paid to do things the way their publisher wants (or the way they imagine their fans will want). Maybe they’re afraid of offending people, or not impressing their friends, or losing out on an award… The point is, writing becomes serious and has other concerns when it’s a job or even just an intense hobby. NaNoWriMo is permission to skip the reasons (and ways!) that you normally write and try something that’s nothing but fun.
We have some stellar participants in Bellingham this year. Here’s seven of us at the kickoff party, October 31, 2012, waiting for midnight so we can start writing.
I can’t remember a year I didn’t win the who-can-write-the-most-between-midnight-and-one contest, at least not while I was actually in town for the kickoff party, but my highest record (which I think was 3,100 words) was crushed by shatterglass, who wrote 4,500 words in one hour.
Awhile ago Briar broke the enter key off of my keyboard with her stupid dog foot, and since the little rubber button cushion was still there, I just put up with it. But a couple days into NaNo, the rubber cushion fell off, and to get a “carriage return” I had to slam my pinky down like four times trying to get it to recognize the pressure. Seamus replaced my keyboard for me, though, and I bet you can guess which day it was:
