Novelists Come Write In @ the Library

What do these books have in common:  Sara Gruen’s Like Water for Elephants, Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles, and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus?  Each of these bestsellers began as first drafts during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  In November, participants set out to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. 

Sound impossible?  Organizers expect 500,000 writers on seven continents (including one very chilly writer at Antarctica’s McMurdo Station) to write their books this November.  “NaNoWriMo is an unbeatable way to write the first draft of a novel because it’s such a powerful antidote to that horrible foe of creativity: self-doubt,” said Grant Faulkner, Executive Director.  “As many NaNoWriMo writers have discovered, the best way to learn to write a novel is by simply plunging in to write a novel.”

The Library will act as a “Come Write-In Location” and will host several events to encourage and inspire our local novelists.  A kick-off party will feature author Michael Tougias, we’ll Skype with Paula Conway, and hold a mid-month writer’s workshop. In December we’ll throw a TGIO Party, when participants can share excerpts of their work and celebrate their accomplishments. 

Participation is free, though the NaNoWriMo website appreciates donations.  Gifts fuel the Young Writer’s Program, which provides free resources and curriculum to more than 80,000 students and educators in 2,000 classrooms around the world. 

To begin, create a free account on the program website, www.nanowrimo.org, and start writing!  At month’s end upload your book, and the site automatically scrambles it to validate the official word count.  If the manuscript is 50,000 words, the site will redirect you to the “winner’s circle”.   Accomplishing this feat is its own reward. 

The website also offers tips, guidance, pep talks from published authors, participant forums, and a tracking graph to help participating authors stay on track.  Producing a 50,000 word novel over thirty days means writing 1667 words a day – a pace that typically requires an hour or two of writing time each day. 

Some Wrimos plan before the event, taking  time in October to outline a story that’s been kicking around and plotting out potential events.  Other Wrimos sit down at the stroke of midnight November 1st and just start typing whatever happens to come to their mind that moment.  I was explaining this to a potential participant and he seemed baffled by this seat-of-your-pants approach.  “So, you just…write?  The last time I did that I ended up with a Latvian saxophonist living in Prohibition-era St. Louis.  It was fun.”    Yes, I assured him.  That sounds about right.

An incredible line-up of authors will support writers participating in NaNoWriMo with letters full of wisdom and encouragement.  These Pep Talkers include James Patterson, Lev Grossman and Rainbow Rowell, who wrote the first draft of her critically acclaimed YA novel, Fangirl, during NaNoWriMo 2012.   There will also be a NaNoWriMo presence on the Twitterverse, including Jason Hough, author of the New York Times bestseller The Darwin Elevator, first drafted during NaNoWriMo.

For more information on NaNoWriMo, please contact Hannah Rubin, Editorial Associate, hannah_rubin@nanowrimo.org  For more information about NaNoWriMo events at the Library, please see our website at www.merrimacklibrary.org and click on calendar or email Director Yvette Couser, and Municipal Liaison for NH at ycouser@merrimacklibrary.org