WINNER!

Well, with three days to spare and after a few marathon writing sessions, I stumbled over the finishing line. My first novel written under NaNoWriMo (well, my first novel full stop as well) is complete at 50,881 words. I may have done a little dance. The certificate is soon to be printed and placed on my wall somewhere.

It's a great feeling and I'll no doubt be having another go next year. It's certainly strange to see an idea from inside my own head down on paper, no matter how random or poorly structured it may be in places. The main thing is, it's mine, it's done and it's a bucket list item ticked off. There'll be another one ticked once the publishing options are available...

All on Lancashire day, too. Can't be bad.

National Novel Writing Month

Every November, since about 1999 I believe, a group of people attempt to write 50,000 words in a month. Yes, that's a novel. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has grown into a pretty big movement, with 189,547 people having currently signed up to take part in 2013. There's probably a lot more to come, as well, what with last minute panic sign-ups.

Despite being named National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo is actually a world-wide thing. From Kansas to Kraków, they'll be beavering away, churning out 50,000 words. Some of them will be pretty good and end up being published. Others will be absolute turd and never see the light of day again.

But that's the beauty of it. It isn't so much the quality of the finished product, nor is it the structure. It's getting that story out of your brain and onto paper/pixels. The idea is that you just write, pushing you past every creative fear you have and every possible bout of writers block. Just get something, anything down on paper that can take the story forward. You can always tidy up after November if you wish to show it to a wider audience.

Regardless of how this goes, I'm looking forward to it. I've never written as often as I should, so this will be a good thing to get me back in the groove. I have picked a bad November, what with the Rugby League World Cup being on and the Ashes starting towards the end of the month, but still, the extra challenges provided should help spur me on. Here's hoping.

http://nanowrimo.org/