Can you whip up a novel in 30 days? That’s the challenge of the annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Organizers of this 30-day writing challenge call it “a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing” and reminds every aspiring novelist that “the world needs your novel.”
In an interview from online news website SFGate, NaNoWriMo executive director Grant Faulkner said the event helps jumpstart and materialize novel writing, especially for those procrastinating writers.
“So many people say they’re going to write a novel someday — when they have more time, when their kids are grown up, etc. — but some day tends not to ever happen. NaNoWriMo helps people write the novel of their dreams today. By showing up to write for 30 days, people establish creative momentum that goes beyond November, and they learn the type of creative discipline required for mastery. While how-to-write books and writing courses are helpful, you learn how to write a novel mainly by doing it. If you start writing and keep writing, you’ll find inspiration in the act of writing, you’ll find your story,” he said.
Faulkner also underscored the creative power and sense of urgency that a deadline imposes.
“A goal and a deadline are the midwives of grand creative acts, as Chris Baty, NaNo’s founder liked to say. Without a goal and a deadline, creative projects tend to flounder. A 30-day deadline provides an injection of urgency that forces you to make writing a priority in a way that you just often don’t without the external structure that comes from things like taking a class.”
For those writers who say they want to write but whose life revolves around Facebook or Twitter, Faulkner has this to say:
“Why spend the month of November on Facebook and Twitter when you could write a novel?”
Read more of Grant Faulkner’s interview here.