So, November, and the start of another #NaNoWriMo – national novel writing month, where budding writers are challenged to write 50 000 words over the course of the month. To break it down, that’s over 1600 words a day, every day, for 30 days. It’s not a small total. I’m taking part in it, again, for the simple reason that I love it – I love the writing, I love the challenge, I love the creating. Don’t get me wrong, nothing I write is going to see the light of day. I’m embarrassed to go back and read some of it – it’s schlock fiction, an dot be honest, it’s not even good schlock fiction. Still, that’s hardly the point, is it?
The point is that, for a month, I feel like I’m part of something bigger. I run a little WriMo club at school for interested kids – this year, we’re up to 20 and we’re going to try to publish our stories on iBooks, but that’s a school thing. I won’t be going to any of the write-ups or TGIO (Thank God Its Over) parties. I’ll donate to #NaNoWriMo, and buy a t-shirt, but that’s probably the extent of my contact with others.
You see, for me, it’s enough to know that there are others out there busily crafting stories. And that’s the genius of the model. There are no excuses for writers. It’s a moth where you dedicate yourself to writing your story, and be damned with the consequences. You can abandon all the reasons why you can’t, and, for one month, you can imagine that you’re a writer. No one judges other peoples novels. No one is critical. Instead, it’s supportive and friendly. It’s mutual celebration when you reach a milestone. It’s commiseration when you get stuck. But most of all, it’s collaborative – this is the best of the internet.