![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.globalnerdy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/nanowrimo-crest.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAll I can think as I begin to write this article is that I\u2019m losing valuable time. If it takes me thirty minutes to write the article \u2013 let\u2019s be generous and say forty-five \u2013 then I only have so much time to reach my quota. Though, it\u2019s only Day 1 so I really should go above the quota in preparation for Week 2, but then I have even more words to write before tonight when I have to leave for this party… <\/i>man, I love this month.<\/p>\n
Let me give you all a brief summary of why this month is so wonderful. November 1st<\/sup> signals the beginning of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), an annual event where writers across the world put pens to the paper or fingers to the keyboard in an attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Now, to put that in context, the Great Gatsby (a familiar book to all those who\u2019ve taken LEII) is just shy of 50,000 words. While it might appear to be a slim novel to some, actually putting down so many words in a short time span is extremely challenging. NaNoWriMo can be unpleasantly similar to having several 8-page papers due during the same week, and that\u2019s on good days. On bad days, finding any sort of dialogue or description to put on the page is nearly torturous.<\/p>\n But you\u2019ll have to forgive me. Around this time of year, I\u2019m in the mood to be loquacious (you can\u2019t imagine how much it helps your word count to use 50 words where a couple will do). Yet it\u2019s not entirely fair to focus my word-spewing on the less-than-lovely components of the event. Every year, I try to explain to my friends why anyone would undertake such a madcap adventure voluntarily. Most of them understand that it\u2019s some quirky thing I do because I\u2019m out of my mind. Many of them don\u2019t see what I see: a community that I love being a part of. Whether it\u2019s within the diverse group at IMSA, led by Mrs. Townsend this year, or random people around the globe, we are all brought together by a common interest \u2013 getting that novel banging around in our brains down on paper.<\/p>\n Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the more materialistic rewards that come with participating in NaNoWriMo. While there\u2019s no cash reward for winning (I can only wish), NaNoWriMo does partner with other businesses to offer discounted services to winners. Some of the prizes are two free paperback copies of your finished book from CreateSpace, a free manuscript review from Lulu.com, or even a 30% off publishing package from BookCountry. And it goes without saying that, at the end of the month, you\u2019ll have a novel you can call your own. A novel<\/i>. There are some amazing bragging rights \u2013 and some definite possibilities of getting yourself published \u2013 that come along with that.<\/p>\n As you ponder whether or not to visit nanowrimo.org and sign up, I\u2019ll get back to my own novel. The 664 words in this article, while well-chosen, aren\u2019t adding to my word count, and I have a long way to go before my goal of 50,000 words is in sight.<\/p>\n Sources: Featured Image<\/a>, Image 1<\/a>, Image 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All I can think as I begin to write this article is that I\u2019m losing valuable time. If it takes me thirty minutes to write…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":11285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[2075,2074,2076],"coauthors":[1899],"class_list":["post-11283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ae","tag-2075","tag-nanowrimo","tag-writing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11283"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11300,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11283\/revisions\/11300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11283"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i2.squidoocdn.com\/resize\/squidoo_images\/250\/draft_lens21331263module168788618photo_416e7bfa84f0bab1afd30.jpg\")
<\/a>If everyone at school could participate in NaNoWriMo, I would be incredibly excited. But for the people who’ve decided that they don\u2019t want to participate directly, there\u2019s always the option of getting involved in other ways. For example, you can sponsor a writer by making a donation to the NaNoWriMo foundation. If you are a \u00a0little strapped for cash, you can use this time to start preparing for next year. “How do you do that?,” you might ask. It\u2019s simple: you read. More specifically, you read books that are the results of NaNoWriMo success stories. If you\u2019re interested, check out The Night Circus <\/i>by Erin Morgenstern or Water for Elephants<\/i> by Sara Gruen. After all, if they can turn 50,000 words into published works, why can\u2019t you?<\/p>\n