Day 13: November 13, 2013

Mr. NaNoWriMo - Chris Baty

For those who may not be familiar with the acronym, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, the brainchild of this man, Chris Baty.  Tonight I had the privilege to hear him at our local library and he was fantastic!  He is personal, professional, energetic, encouraging, and such a joy to listen to.

The basic premise of NaNoWriMo is that many people claim that they are going to write a novel "some day" and this event helps those would-be writers to stop procrastinating and just do it.  For the month of November participants pledge to write 50,000 words (the unofficial count of the least number of words to qualify as a novel), which translates to approximately 1,667 words a day.

The event began in 1999 with 21 participants and today it is celebrating its 15th Anniversary with approximately 300,000 participants all over the world.  There is something inspiring and rather magical about that many introverted writers connecting with one another for a common goal.

He had many wonderful words of encouragement and tips to share, which I will document on my personal blog .... but here is my favorite quote:

The reason so many people fail at completing their novel is NOT that they lack the talent, NOR that they lack discipline.  The problem is that they lack a deadline.

Such truth in those words.  I am currently at 19,125 words.  I have a ways to go, but I am encouraged to stay strong and finish the race. It is not about quality at this point... it is about completion.