Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Blogging NaNoWriMo

nanowrimo button

We're only about 3 weeks away from National Novel Writing Month, more popularly known as NaNoWriMo. If you've never heard of NaNoWriMo, it's where people from around the world try their hand at completing a novel (at least 50,000 words) in 30 days or less during the month of November. It's crazy and tons of fun. You can chat with other NaNos on Twitter using the hashtag #nanowrimo, meet up with fellow NaNos in your area for write-ins, race in "word wars" with other NaNos to boost your word count, follow writing prompts if you're stuck, and read excellent "pep talk" essays by established authors. I've participated in NaNoWriMo for the past two years and highly recommend it to anyone who's thought about writing a novel, because there's so much support available that you won't get during the rest of the year. Plus, it's a freaking blast.

But. What if you don't want to write a novel, but still want to get your writing on? You could turn NaNoWriMo into NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month, by challenging yourself to post to your blog every day in November.

Sound crazy? Worried about how you'll think of a topic every day? Don't be intimidated. BlogHer hosts a NaBloPoMo every month of the year (including November) with writing prompts and themed topics. You can also use one of the many random topic generators found on the interwebs, including the three I recommended in Tips for Dealing with Blogging Block.

If blogging every day of the month sounds intimidating, just imagine how the people about to write a novel in a month feel! It is overwhelming and sounds nearly impossible, but that's the point: to challenge yourself to something you're not sure you can do. Whether you succeed or not, you'll have fun and learn a lot about yourself along the way.

Are you participating or have participated in either NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo? Let us know in the comments!



4 comments :

  1. I will definitely be participating this year. I am not going to finish the whole novel, probably, but I am going to make killer headway on the WIP!

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  2. I will be joining NaNoWriMo again this year. :) I won't be starting a new novel, but hopefully finishing the one I'm currently working on. I'm about 17,000 words in, so I'll just use my current word count as my zero and go from there.

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  3. I have never participated in either, but I plan to this year! I am really shooting for NaNo, but to be honest, the closer I get, the more overwhelmed I feel!!! I've never written a novel before. What the heck am I thinking?!?! :)

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  4. I havent heard of BlogHers monthly blog posting challenge. I have been tempted to join other similar challenges but I know with the busy holiday and birthday season upon us, now is just not gonna happen. I will keep it in mind for the new year though! thanks for sharing.

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