Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

Every year as trick-or-treaters trail home on Halloween to tally their loot, writers around the world flex their fingers in readiness for National Novel Writing Month, better known as Nanowrimo, that begins on November 1st.

This is the month when would-be authors churn out thousands of words a day with the goal of creating the rough draft of a 50,000-word novel or nonfiction you wish.

National Novel Writing Month was started in July 1999 in San Francisco by Chris Baty and 20 of his friends. Although it began as a half-literary fest and half-block party, it has grown into a worldwide explosion of the imagination among 300,000+ aspiring novelists. It is now even a 501(3)(c) nonprofit providing programs such as the Young Writers Program and Camp NaNoWriMo, that empower and encourage vibrant creativity around the world.

If you’ve been longing to write a novel or other book, or struggling to finish one, here are some very good reasons to join your fellow novelists during NaNoWriMo.

You are encouraged to go for quantity, not quality.

Here’s your chance to push yourself to turn out that rough draft that every writer must create. At the end of November, you will have a product that will definitely need to be edited and polished before it’s ready for publication, maybe for months later. But won’t it be great to have it done in a month instead of dragging on for years?

Your one-month novel will likely be bad, Actually really, really horrible.

But no one will ever need to see your rough draft.

Let me repeat that.

Write your worst. No one will ever see your rough draft.

What is important is that you will discover that you can create something that
is the same length as a good novel. Maybe, with attention to the elements of novel writing, you COULD turn a feeble attempt into a publishable novel with professional editing and polishing.

Listen to Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo, share the history and give tips.

You get tips and encouragement from published writers, industry leaders, and fellow writers.

1. Keep up with the NaNoWriMo excitement on Twitter. https://twitter.com/NaNoWriMo
2. Check out the calendar at http://nanowrimo.org/calendar for this and other exciting events, even virtual write-ins.
3. Join on Facebook and learn about ways to get ready at https://www.facebook.com/nanowrimo and follow on
4. Although you may certainly write alone, many NaNoWriMo writers gather in coffee shops, libraries and other public places to work on their novels and encourage each other toward their 50,000-word goal.
5. There are volunteer Municipal Liaisons guiding in regions on all the continents. Once you join, locate your region to see a listing of meeting places and times. Attend the ones that are convenient for you.
6. In addition to the typical coffee shop meet-ins, my local NaNoWriMo groups have met on a train, at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and even IKEA. Then there was our write-a-thon, Night of Writing Dangerously in SanFrancisco. Check the Forums or Calendar to see where the events are near you this year.
7. Get loads of other tips and strategies in the http://nanowrimo.org/forums
8. Be inspired by pep talk letters from well-known authors at https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks
9. Find out ways to prepare at https://nanowrimo.org/nano-prep-101

The volunteer liaisons are wonderfully creative and energetic as they plan events to make it fun to join in. Some have themed dress-ups days and offer prizes.

NaNoWriMo is not a one-trick pony.

They encourage writings year-round. Learn about their many other programs at https://www.youtube.com/user/lettersandlightvideo

Not near a group? Participate in a Virtual Write-In

Have any NaNoWriMo participants ever published their novels?

Yes! Over 500+ NaNoWriMo participants have published their books.

Here are two you may recognize.

Hugh Howey, author of Wool and Sara Gruen, author of the historical novel Water for Elephants wrote their first drafts at NaNoWriMo.

Discover what other published books were started or completed during NaNoWriMo at https://youtu.be/Pn6VlzWtLR8

You don’t have to change your life, just make writing your focus.

Disciplined writers already know they must turn out a certain number of words per day. They do it by making a commitment and fitting it into their daily lives. You can do this too.

There is no pressure. You may track your word count on the NaNoWriMo site, but it’s on the honor system. Even if you don’t make the 50,000-word finish line, you will be happy to enjoy whatever progress you make. Just participating is an achievement.

If you’re ready, learn more and then register, go to https://www.nanowrimo.org/

Tell me in the comments the book idea you plan to work on.

Follow me on Twitter@florabrown

I update this article each year.

© Can Stock Photo / forsterforest

This is the most amazing time in history if you want to write a book. Whether you want to write your life story in your own handwriting to be left behind with your will for your family, or if you long to write a fiction book that will be on equal footing with bestsellers, this is your time.

The tools are at your fingertips.

Your biggest barrier is you.

You fear that your writing is not good enough.

Good enough for what, I ask?

Some pretty horrid books were forced upon me in college because somebody had decided they were great literature. I survived to go on and write some pretty horrid stuff myself, some of which a few people bought.

Who decides if a book is worth publishing?

The road to writing success is paved with rejections. A few of these are legendary:

• Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected by more than 100 publishers before they found one who would print their book.  They still had to create demand for the book, working every day for a long time until their idea caught fire.

• Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for lack of ideas.

• English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.

• By the time Stephen King was 14, he had received so many rejection slips that they were too heavy for the nail holding them up. He replaced it with a spike.

• J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers and almost by a 13th publisher, who gave in when his daughter pleaded with him to publish the book.

These authors could have been rejected for many reasons, of course, but it’s clear that at some point their writing was not considered worth reading. And yet, once published, they were deemed worthwhile.

Who decides if a book is worth reading?

Since a publisher takes a substantial financial risk in carrying a book to market, it’s understandable that they get to decide if a book is worth reading. Publishers don’t like taking risks. They are like banks who only want to loan money to people who already have plenty of it.

If a literary agent is being asked to shop your book around to find a willing publisher, it is the agent who quickly decides if she thinks she can convince a publisher to take on your book so that both of them can make money.

But what if the end-user, the reader, got to decide what is worth reading. Wouldn’t that be great?

That is exactly where we stand now with blogs, ebooks, and other digital products. Because the reader is free to read these types of writing directly from the author, it is the reader who decides if your work is worth reading.

No one is born a great writer

“Some critics will write ‘Maya Angelou is a natural writer’–which is right after being a natural heart surgeon.”
–– Maya Angelou

Like learning to play the piano, lining words up to convey our thoughts may come easier to some than others, but we all have to practice, refine, and hone our writing skills. Who is to say when our writing is good, good enough, or great?

Writing professionally is a lifetime endeavor, in fact. Every time a published author starts a new book, she is at the beginning again, fighting back fear and uncertainty.

Writers don’t have to be great to be worth reading

Changes in publishing have made it possible for anyone to churn out a book. Some may hawk their work directly to readers to find their audience. But every writer ’s goal may not be to please a big audience or to rake in millions.

Take the poems I write every Christmas chronicling the year’s events in my family, for example. My audience is small and they love me. My poems are corny, with forced and awkward rhyme schemes.  And yet, if one of my friends fails to receive his poem in a timely manner, he calls requesting it.

Since greatness is in the mind of the reader, I encourage anyone who wants to write, to read what they enjoy. Then write what they wish. Then rewrite, read some more, and write some more.

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”–Toni Morrison

If you intend to make your living from writing or will measure your book’s worth by how many copies are sold, then, by all means, you must become a serious business person and hustle.  But if you want to write your life story or publish a book, then by no means don’t let anything or anyone stop you.

How do you write a book worth reading?

Write a book you enjoy writing.

How do you decide a book was worth reading? Tell us in Speak Your Mind.