Have you ever thought about writing a novel? Panicked at the amount of time and effort it would take and just balked?
You are not alone.
Every year, thousands of novels aren’t written by people just like you and me. Why? Because we get overwhelmed by the idea of doing something so big. Because we’re worried about whether or not it will be good enough, or any good at all. Because we can’t think of the perfect way for the protagonist to walk into the bank in Chapter 4. Because it’s been said before. Because it’s laundry day. Because of Winn-Dixie.
There are a million excuses reasons not to start. But there’s still one good reason to do it: You want to.
This is where NaNoWriMo comes in. Never heard of it? It’s National Novel Writing Month—”Thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” Here’s how it works:
- Register at NaNoWriMo.org.
- On November 1st, start writing a novel. (It’s OK to plan and make notes before that day, but you cannot start actually writing before then).
- By 11:59:59 on November 30th, finish that novel! (“Finishing” = reaching a word count of at least 50,000. Also, it’d probably be a good idea to reach the end of the story you’re trying to tell. Unless it’s an epic. Then maybe just reach a logical conclusion to the events in the first part.
)
That’s it!
If you’re planning on participating, the library will be holding two write-ins during the month. The first will be this Sunday, November 6th, from 1-5PM (the whole time the library is open). The second will be on Tuesday, November 22nd, from 5-9PM. Both sessions will be held in the McCallum room, just outside the library doors on the fourth floor. We look forward to seeing you!
| Jake Gauslow |
| Adult Services Librarian | |
| jgauslow@friscotexas.gov |
