A couple years back, the official NaNoWriMo organization fell apart amid a tale of scandal and corruption that could’ve made its own novel. By then it had been years since I’d done it anyway.
But once upon a time, NaNo was as much a part of my fall as pumpkin spice, and shopping for school supplies, and eating all the Halloween candy I was supposed to give away. (Don’t worry about the kids, I always get more.) In September and October as much as in November, because I tend to be at least somewhat of a planner.
So ingrained, in fact, did NaNo become, that to this day I am always more productive in the fall. But apart from a couple of odd years here and there, I stopped doing it when I started publishing, because it didn’t often match up with my schedule well enough. And my schedule was also demanding enough that writing with abandon, and ending up with something wacky that I might not even be able to use, wasn’t something I had time for. Which was a shame, because while NaNo could produce some real clunkers, it could also be magical.
This year I am finding myself up against a bit of a wall, and in dire need of some magic. So it’s fortunate for me that out of the ashes of the old NaNo, the original founders (who were long gone by the time things fell apart) have risen to present us with NaNo 2, electric boogaloo.
For those unfamiliar with this challenge, the original goal was 50,000 words of a fresh novel draft, from word one, in thirty days. (Except not really thirty days if you’re American, because Thanksgiving. Why they chose November for this remains one of NaNo’s great mysteries.) The new iteration is less formal and more forgiving: you can write anything you want, and you can set your own word-count goal.
I’m officially going for it, old-school with a goal of 50k between November 1 and November 30. We’re going to call it a new project, although it’s really a fresh start on an old project. But I’ll be starting a new draft from word one. I’ve got a week to completely redo the old outline, which is not enough, but at least I don’t think the worldbuilding will change much.
In the old days, I always blogged progress reports during NaNo, so November will likely see three or four posts/newsletters from me. They will all be categorized as nonsense instead of news, so you should find them easy to skip.
Admit it, this sounds fun. Who’s with me, ready to charge in there and gorge on candy and caffeine while writing possibly dumb stuff?
P.S. NaNo 2 is a grassroots, informal thing, so gone are writing buddies and forums and other social tools. If you decide to do it, email me your profile link so we can keep each other accountable!