November is National Write a Novel Month and there’s a group in Nashville that wants to help you write a book in the next thirty days.
“A lot of people have said ‘one day I’m going to be a writer, one day I’m going to write that book,’ and the group of friends that started this said let’s pick thirty days to write a book and we’ll do it and we’ll do it together and that’s expanded all over the globe now,” said National Novel Writing Month Municipal Liaison Liz Hale.
More than 450 people in Middle Tennessee have signed up to take on the literary challenge over the next 30 days.
Some really popular books have come out of the National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo. The book Water for Elephants was created during the challenge and was later made into a major movie.
The goal for most participants is about 50,000 words by the end of the month.
They break that up by having daily goals of just over 1,600 words.
“A large goal within a very tight time frame really pushes you to move forward,” said Misheal Crocker.
Crocker published a murder mystery she wrote during NaNoWriMo.
She admits it can be overwhelming, but that’s why accountability is important.
“It’s just a matter of going out there and writing some words. Even if you don’t get 50,000 words and you just write 100 words. That’s 100 words you didn’t have before that you created ad you took your time to work on,” said Crocker.
Nashville’s group holds write-ins at least once a week.
They meet at the Downtown Nashville Library and different coffee shops and restaurants around town to encourage each other and keep one another accountable.
The NaNoWriMo website also has a word counter, where you can input your days text and track your progress for encouragement and chat with other writers.
Sara Harville has completed fifteen NaNoWriMos.
“You get to the end and it’s like I just did something people say they’re going to do but they can’t do. Or I just did something, and it came out of me. No one else could have done this, this is my work,” said Harville.
NaNoWriMo coordinators say anyone can be a writer, you just have to get started.
If you would like to learn more about the National Novel Writing Month group here in Nashville visit their website to sign up.
