In addition to all the academic writing going on this time of year, imagine writing a 50,000-word novel by the end of November.
Thousands will attempt this feat during National Novel Writing Month, which takes place every November.
Now in its 11th year, NaNoWriMo encourages writers and nonwriters alike to complete a 175-page novel between November 1 and 30. The only thing that matters is quantity, not quality. The competition’s purpose is getting writers to just write, loosen expectations and not get bogged down reaching for perfection.
Caitlin Cedfeldt, a junior political science major, is trying NaNoWriMo for the third time this year. The past two years she penned around 25,000 words before giving up.
“The problem is I was an honors student and having a fairly large credit hour load,” she said. “All of my papers are usually due around Thanksgiving – academics have to take priority.”
“I also have a problem coming up with ideas for the first week or so that sets me behind,” Cedfeldt said. “I didn’t know anyone else who did NaNoWriMo until this year, it was usually kind of my own thing.”
Cedfeldt found kindred spirits in Inkblots, a writing group on campus founded by sophomore English major Neal Gebhard.
“Inkblots is designed to bring undergraduate creative writers together outside of an academic setting,” Gebhard said. “They can experience a writing community and have a support and stability and possibly gain some new ideas.”
“I actually began Inkblots last year when I was a freshman … I wanted to continue some of the work I did in high school,” he said. “I kind of wanted to see what I could do at the college level.”
Members engage in writing exercises and read their work at meetings. While not all members are trying their hand at NaNoWriMo, Inkblots will function as a support group for those who are.
“I’m pretty excited actually because I’ve never really tried it,” Gebhard said. “I am excited to see what the group does with it.”
Inkblots is linked with the Lincoln community at the NaNoWriMo Web site. Users can update their word counts and check on their friends to see who is closest to finishing before the midnight deadline on Nov. 30.
“I just kind of go with it,” Cedfeldt said. “I think strategy would help a writer, like if they set a goal like 2,000 words a day and stuck to it … if you were very specific about it and determined, I think it’s definitely possible to finish, if you’re not too worried about the quality of your writing.”
According to NaNoWriMo.org, the competition went from 21 participants and six winners in 1999, to 119,301 participants and 21,683 winners in 2008. “Winners” receive a downloadable certificate and the satisfaction of finishing a novel.
“It’s just kind of a like a check star amongst writing groups: ‘Oh I finished NaNoWriMo,’” Cedfeldt said. “It’s a little bit of social clout too.
“Even getting as far as I did, which was half way at best, was really kind of fun and to say ‘I’m working on a novel, I created this.’”
tomhelberg@dailynebraskan.com
