November is National Novel Writing Month (lovingly dubbed NaNoRiMo). Participants sign up, begin writing November 1st, and eventually complete a 50,000 word novel (175 pages) by midnight, November 30th. In an effort that elevates quantity over quality, NaNoRiMo allows those would-be writers to finally take up their pens and create. As described on the official NaNoRiMo website: “They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.”
To some, this event may seem baffling, but it can be an effective way to brush that inner critic off your shoulder while writing. How many people have you met who say they’d like to write someday, but not now? It is this same internal voice that sometimes impedes student writing in the classroom. Students need a space in the curriculum where it is okay to make mistakes and okay to write without second-guessing, then learn about the wonders of revision.
—Katie Harris
This is interesting, are you involved in this program?
No. A grad student does not have time for novels!
Wow, this may be a method to kickstart my sputtering book project.