November First. National Novel Writing Month starting date.
Which I find out that the website is no longer there after many, many years, but hey, it's November which means I will attempt to get 50,000 words of my novel written over the month.
The traditional rules are as follows, as copied from Wikipedia:
Since NaNoWriMo is used to get people writing, the rules are kept broad and straightforward:
Writing starts at 12:00:00 a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time.
No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point. (See my first point below)
Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. (See my second point) These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later. (See my third point).
Planning and extensive notes were permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel. (See my fourth point)
Participants' novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language. Everything from fanfiction, which uses characters or settings from the published work of others, to novels in poem format, and metafiction is allowed; according to the website's FAQ, "If you believe you're writing a novel, we believe you're writing a novel too.
Point One: Bugger this. I'm around 11,000 words into the second draft of a novel so I'm doing a huge rewrite. As the competition is no longer there, this is my starting point.
Point Two: I intend to write 50,000 over the month of November. I'll be keeping a log at the bottom of my blog to show how I'm going.
Point Three: I'll be writing from the point where I left off this week. According to my file I have 11,008 words in the document. By the end of November, I'd like to have at least 61,000 written.
Point Four: Yes, I have ten years of notes, ideas and planning I'll be dibbing into of the month.
Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Possibly. Can I do this? Yes - I've done it before.
On the good side of things, I have Ritalin and a newly formed soft addiction to Coke Zero. I've also got the first ten days of the month off, which means I can park myself in the State Library for a few hours a day.
Going to my friend's book launch on Wednesday has lit a fire within me.
Support is welcome. Cheerleaders welcome. If you want to write along with me - please do. I'm still a writer looking for a writing group.
And at least I have a plan.
Wish me luck. And perseverance. And yes, I only write in Times New Roman 12 pt. So, shoot me. Nothing else works for me.
NaNoWriMo Project Starting Point: 11,008 words.
Project Title: It's Time, Inc.
Genre: Speculative Literary Fiction
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