I started thinking ahead to National Novel Writing Month, which takes place in November. This will be the third year I am aware of it, and the third year in a row that I was unable to fully participate. Let's do a recap:
November 2003: getting married and going on honeymoon
November 2004: anniversary trip to London...got some words written the other weeks
November 2005: giving birth
Now, I'm not complaining or anything...no wait, I am, but November SUCKS as a month to do this. I mean, it's the start of the holidays, it's towards the end of the academic and calendar year, people go on trips for Thanksgiving, destroying a weekend for writing for those who have to work around work....
Now January, there's a great month. It's 31 days long, it's the beginning of the year...New Year's Resolutions! Many people in school start out in the midst of vacation. Even those who work usually have the first off...and many people also get MLK day off later in the month. It's cold so no one wants to go outside. The holidays are over so you definitely don't want to travel anymore.
So, to make a long story short...how do I petition to get NaNoWriMo changed to January?
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
get a 2/3 majority of the 40,000 plus participants to email them requesting the change?
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Hmmm, it could work...
Except that means trying to plan the novel, build milieu and characters, outline, etc., etc. during Christmas and New Years.
[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited July 29, 2005).]
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
November works extremely well for me. I'd sign a counter-petition to keep it in November.
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
Can you do the writing when it's more convenient, say, in August? And pretend you did it in November??? Or is this like a FLASH challenge and to prep ahead of time would be considered a violation of rules?
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
Those of you who are interested in nano methodology applied during other times of the year might like nanowriye - apparently they have various frenzied writing activities spread out over the whole year. I've never hung out there and have no idea how much momentum they have.
Elan, in order to participate in nanowrimo you need to write 50k in November. Writing in August but claiming you did it in November would be considered cheating.
I'm not sure it's cheating to write those words in August...after all, there's no grand prize here, there's no check except the personal satisfaction of knowing you did a good thing...you ignored that personl editor, got the words on the page, and churned out 50k words in a month. We're on the honor system to actuall do it in a month and not, for example, start in October, but as I said, the only person you cheat or have to live up to is yourself. If you want to write 50k words in August, go for it. That's still a good thing, in my book.
But NaNoWriMo is set up so that there are chat groups and support groups that help one another get through the month. There are daily word tracking tools and a community of support that will be missing if you do it in August.
Thanks for the links, though, Beth. This November thing has been a frustration for me for three years running...each year it's like, well, this year I can't do it but next year. I don't know what it is about November...
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Babies and November go together like Valentine's Day and February (I have two aunts and two uncles who are two years apart and all have birthdays with 10 days of each other smack-dab in the middle of November).
If you want to do NaNo, try not to have a "romantic" Valentine's Day.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Yik. I can't stand Valentine's day. The timeing worked out a few years ago that my husband and I were ready for engagement in February, but he specifically proposed on Friday the 13th, not Saturday the 14th!
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
Unfortunately I got married in February. On the 17th. I desperately wanted to be married in October, my favorite time of year, but my husband was working 90 hour weeks getting a book written and revised for his work. It wasn't over until December and I've never wanted a Christmas wedding. January was still pretty close to Christmas and relatives wouldn't be able to fly out that soon. I didn't want to wait until March, so it had to be February. The 17th was the only open slot at the chapel. But it really stinks. I never get anything for Valentine's from my hubby because our anniversary is right then, so we celebrate them together. And flowers and chocolates are twice as expensive. And it is hard to get dinner reservations. In hind sight, maybe I should have waited until March after all. Oh well.
As far as Nano is concerned, I wish it was January as well. November is really tough. Last year we had some relatives announce their arrival for Thanksgiving quite unexpectedly, but because they are people I hadn't seen in several years I really needed to spend quality time with them. Thus my writing suffered and I didn't cross the finish line. This year I don't know of any relative visits . . . yet.
Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :
January would work better for me, too, actually. So why don't we just do it? How many of us would prefer to use January, or at least try it in January of 06? We could get a group going here (or through email, or whatever) and have the same support and whatnot, just in a month that is easier to write in. It seems to me that the support is the more important part, anyway--if you've got a bunch of other people who are going through exactly the same thing, at the same time, it's going to be reassuring.
Just thinking out loud, here. And in January, I'll be up in Fort Collins with a real internet connection, so I'll actually be able to participate, unlike in the summer months...
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
But none of the other months start with NOV. NOVember. NOVel.
And now you're doomed, Christine, because next year you'll have a one year old's birthday in November.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Heh, by the time that baby is 1 year old Christine will be going story crazy! She'll probably be champing at the bit for some sort of releif, and Nano will do quite nicely.
So, Christine, if you don't make it this year, you have a year to learn all the logistics and creative workarounds that parents learn just to have any time at all.
Posted by Gwalchmai (Member # 1807) on :
I've fancied it for the last couple of years but unfortunately since I decided to go back into education I just haven't the time. November's especially bad because my first essay deadlines are usually coming in but the rest of the year wouldn't really help much either.
I do like your reasoning for January though and agree that it does seem to make more sense. Might be the extra kick a lot of people making New Year's Resolutions need to actually get on and complete something. Except then they will have completed novels and be extra competition for myself. . . . No, I've decided it's a bad idea, leave it where it is in November.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
I think there is an alternate month for people with November problems. I have this memory of seeing it posted on the NaNoWriMo board.
Posted by rjzeller (Member # 1906) on :
quote: And now you're doomed, Christine, because next year you'll have a one year old's birthday in November.
...don't forget the anniversary, the Thanksgiving trip to the parent's house so they can join in all the celebration, the planning for baby's first Christmas that they'll actually enjoy....
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
What's to stop us from having a Hatrack Nano-Neener month thingie? No cash prizes? Hatrack can manage a no-cash 'atta boy/girl' round of applause!
We could hold it in September. After all, ya get Labor Day (if you are in the states) and what novel couldn't benefit from the writer taking a 3 day holiday?
[This message has been edited by Elan (edited August 04, 2005).]
Posted by pixydust (Member # 2311) on :
Autumn said: "Unfortunately I got married in February. On the 17th." That's my anniversary date too. Ten years. Small world. It never really bothered me but I suppose that was because I'm fairly low maintenance. I always told him not to buy me flowers--I mean they're just going to die anyway. We get a weekend away without kids, and I'm happy. I live for February.
Posted by pixydust (Member # 2311) on :
I forgot to say:
I vote November. It's my birthday month so that's the excuse I'm giving my husband for disapearing into my laptop for four weeks.
*This too shall pass Christine. I had two of my kids in November. Now I can just hand them over to my husband--telling him that because he loves me he'll give me the time to find my dream --the dear, dear man--and then hide for three hours a day to get my quota. So take heart.*
