(Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month. Click image to visit the official NaNoWriMo website)
Words from Chris Baty, founder of National Novel Writing Month
- "Give someone an enormous task, a supportive community, and a friendly-yet-firm due date, and miracles will happen."
- (about the 1st rough draft) “In the context of novel writing, this means you should lower the bar from 'best-seller' to 'would not make someone vomit.' Exuberant imperfection encourages you to write uncritically, to experiment, to break your time-honored rules of writing just to see what happens. In a first draft, nothing is permanent, and everything is fixable. So stay loose and flexible, and keep your expectations very, very low.”
About
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an approach to creative writing that has gone global. It's free, fun, casual, and challenging all rolled into one!
The Basics: Nanowrimo is all about writing a rough draft. Each participant tries to write 50,000 words during November. Nanowrimo officially opens at midnight on November 1st, and ends at 11:59pm on November 30. People may join and start writing any time during November.
The Goals: During Nanowrimo, a participant's two goals are:
- Write 50,000 words or more in November (that's the average word count for a short novel!)
- Focus on the rough draft. Forget about making the writing perfect, publishing, etc. Those are all problems for Future You. During November, you just write.
The Focus: is getting in the habit of daily writing, having a firm deadline/due date to complete the rough draft, emphasizing practice over perfection, and encouraging people to take the first steps toward putting an idea on paper.
The event values and promotes writing fluency through practice, creativity, enthusiasm, determination, and goal-setting.
CF Library and Nanowrimo
CF Library locations support our student writers in fall, spring, and summer! Whether you're writing for fun or schoolwork, the library offers a place for current CF students. Enjoy computers, writing rooms, cozy spots, tables, books about writing, research help, and more.
During Nanowrimo, we are the place with the space to write!
Connect with us, and discover your story!
Check the library's Events Calendar for writing-related events and more!
Published Authors and Nanowrimo
Published authors, and many more, wrote their rough drafts during Nanowrimo and, after polishing their writing, got published! A number of these books have been made into movies, mini-series, and more.
No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition
Chris Baty, founder of the wildly successful literary marathon known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
The Night Circus
Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in the spellbinding novel that captured the world's imagination.
Water for Elephants
Broadway Musical
#1 New York Times Bestseller
A Major Motion Picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz
Persistence of Memory
Wool
* Now a series on Apple+ tv
* New York Times best-seller
Wool is the story of mankind clawing for survival. The remnants of humanity live underground in a single silo. But there are always those wonder what it's like outside.
Cinder
#1 New York Times Bestselling Series
No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness.
Fangirl
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it.
Side Effects May Vary
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin'
now a Netflix feature film starring Danielle Macdonald and Jennifer Aniston
A girl with cancer creates a take-no-prisoners bucket list -- only to discover she's gone into remission.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
You must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. When the fence is breached, Mary's world is thrown into chaos. Now, she must choose between her village and her future.
Disclaimer:
College of Central Florida and its libraries are not affiliated with the National Novel Writing Month nonprofit or its other organizations. Any views, comments, opinions, or writings expressed by the NaNoWriMo website and its staff, participants, etc. do not necessarily reflect those of College of Central Florida and its libraries. This extends to any views and opinions expressed by guest speakers of this or other events.