It’s National Novel Writing Month!
(What???!! You’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo??!! Go directly — do not pass Go, do not collect $200 — go directly to www.nanowrimo.org. For the rest of you, read on…)
For years I’ve observed my fellow writers come together with other writers from all over the world and cheer each other on to the finish line of writing 50,000 words on a novel in the short month of November. NaNoWriMo is a sacred ritual, a rite of initiation complete with hardship, endurance, ceremony, celebration, and a vision quest for that new novel.
And I’ve always resented that I was too busy to participate.
“Praying” at the “altar” in preparation for the NaNoWriMo Quest
Well, this year (thanks to our economy), I wasn’t too busy. And so I signed up. I read the pep talks online, shared my excitement on my social media networks (Plurk, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), and at midnight-plus-one-minute on November 1, typed the first sentence of my new novel. (But only the first sentence; it was, after all, past midnight and well past bedtime! I mean, we have the whole month, right??!!)
But would I have to cut down on my virtual Second Life to participate in this other sorta-virtual online experience? As it turns out — no! For NaNoWriMo has a huge, supportive presence in SL!
There are no fewer than eight SL groups set up to support this year’s NaNoWriMo’s, or simply “Wrimos,” as these rabid novelists. I joined the one with the most members — NaNoWriMo SL, which also incorporates another older group, SL Wrimos. (To find the others, use the Search function in SL.)
The NaNoWriMo SL group has set up a funky little spread in Second Life where you can recline by the fire (and write) or sit at picnic tables (and write) or participate in one of the organized write-ins (and write), or come by and add your decorative touches to the place (and then write).
Entering my word count into the NaNoWriMo SL Central Database Counter
This group has also come up with a bunch of fun incentives for us slackers and procrastinators:
- A Central Database Counter, where group members can update their totals as often as they wish, and wear a sign over their heads that displays that word count.
- Daily “word dares”: If you’re blocked, try to write something (for your novel) incorporating the word of the day.
- “Word Wars”: occasional 30-minute “showdowns” in which you “begin by first beheading your inner editor,” and then write nonstop for 30 minutes.
- A daily writing competition: s/he who writes the most words that day wins “a cute lil funky medieval house.”
- A free set of NaNoWriMo SL Plotbunny Ears, and a NaNoWriMo Snuggle Bear (see the picture at right of me wearing them; also note my word count displayed above my head). (One way to use these as an incentive: Decide you must keep them on until you’ve reached your daily quota!)
Check out NaNoWriMo SL’s website for our group’s daily word counts and more, including the continually updated calendar that shows what’s going on in SL-NaNoWri-Mo-Land.
But there’s MORE!
Many of the regular writers’ groups and venues in Second Life are offering writing spaces, write-ins, competitions, and other kinds of support and fun to keep us Wrimos’ focused on finishing this sacred November quest! Here are just a few:
- Bookstacks Isle, a great spot for book lovers and writers to hang out, is offering lots of places in its pub, around the island, and at its cozy cottage for Wrimos’ to come and be inspired — and write!
- Bookstacks is also offering weekly “costume” write-ins and a contest for a month’s free rent on a house — but you have to write those 50K words to qualify!
Working on my novel at the Bookstacks Isle Pub
- The great folks at one of SL’s most active writing organizations, Written Word, are offering all Wrimos’ free writing huts in the space where their just-ended Autumn Writers Exhibition was held “to be together and encourage each other through their writing.”
- Written Word is also encouraging them to read excerpts from their novels at the weekly Writers’ Circle open mic ,and is offering space on their website for those who wish to publish excerpts.
Story Mountain Center for Writers offers a variety of places for writers to hang out and write, including the Hemingway Cafe, patio, deck, beach, mountain cave, rocky shore, and this garden waterfall setting.
Coffeeshops and writers’ gathering places all over Second Life are providing spaces to encourage writers to individually or as a group write up a storm! You can pick just about any environment imaginable in which to sit in write (or chat, if you prefer), from bars and pubs to mountain caves and serene gardens, a few of which are shown in some of the accompanying photos.
sLiterary has set up this NaNoWriMo shrine/writing retreat for Wrimos
I’ve discovered I love National Novel Writing Month — mainly because of the “permission” it gives me to lock up my inner editor for the month and just create! Every time I find myself stuck or wanting to go back and revise some of that schlocky first-draft stuff, I remind myself of that permission, and let all my novel ideas (crazy or silly as they may be) flow through my fingertips onto my monitor!
P.S. It’s also because of NaNoWriMo that I made an incredible word-processor discovery! For NaNoWriMo, and I suspect for all of my future first-draft writing, I’m using this wonderful, free (though donations are welcome) word processor designed by a NaNoWriMo for NaNoWriMos.
Q10 is its name, and it covers up all the distracting icons, menus, and eye candy on your computer desktop with a plain white (or whatever color you want) page that looks like a sheet of real paper. You can also have an optional status line at the bottom or top. Nothing else but words! And the coolest thing about it is that it sounds like a typewriter — keypresses produce that old IBM Selectric sound, and an Enter press generates the “music” of a carriage return. (You can turn the sound off if you want). I love it — just me and my words!
If you know of other Second Life places, groups, or events that support NaNoWriMo, or if you’ve had some great NaNoWriMo fun in SL, let the rest of us know, too — add your comment to this post.
