NANO WRIMO 2008

It occurred to me this morning to mention NanoWrimo. Writer’s and non-writer’s alike know all about National Novel Writing Month. It occurs every year and starts on November 1st, 2008.

I’ve participated for the last couple of years, but never really signed up and used the tools available. This year though, my on-line social network has a lot of people enthused about Wrimo. So, I signed up and am going to keep track of my word count this year.

Word count?

Oh yeah, stinking premises would help for those not in the know, huh?

The name explains the basic idea. Participants devote November to writing a novel. The goal is 50,000 words of a story that you haven’t written before. You can do research and prepare all you want, but you can’t haul out that half finished story from three years ago and pass it off. It has to be brand spanking new, not new ideas, but new words.

I’ve been planning on doing Wrimo for a few months now. Hence all of the research I’ve been doing. I’m going to write a paranormal romance which if I wanted to use hence again I’d say, hence the focus on paranormal romance in these here pages.

(I guess I just did.)

Anyway, I’ve been researching for the past couple of months and setting up what’s supposed to be a light piece. I can tell you right now though, that the story isn’t shaping up to be a traditional paranormal romance.

Traditional paranormal romance?

Tacking on traditional can be arguable since to some, the genre is fairly recent.

But I’m shifting from the whole point of this post and I’m sure there is a point if I just let myself find it.

Well, I’m a writer by nature. I write all of the time out of sheer need to get some of the top surface off my mind. I blog here, I blog there, I blog everywhere. The one thing I haven’t managed to do though is write a complete novel.

I have a lot of almost finished pieces. I have an erotica piece that I think is very good. Will it be a classic? I don’t know if I don’t ever finish it. I have my previous Wrimo adventure. That one stalled because I didn’t do ANY research and realized that though the story was good and the characters were interesting, the environment was flat. The story was like looking at a beautiful face surrounded by blank white canvas. It seemed to float there unattached.

So this year I decided that I would do the research. I even attempted an outline. I’ve fought the idea of an outline for years because I managed to write some really good pieces without one, but you know a vignette is easy, a whole novel is something else.

This time I’ve put in my time. I’ve created a world. I’ve created characters with history and texture. I’ve done this before on a grander scale, but I’m going simple on this one.
I think simple is the key here as well.

I’ve done my time, like I’ve said above, but in the past I did it with all kinds of grandeur. I have created a world with so many layers and so much texture that it’s actually beyond my current capabilities to write it. So, I committed myself to Wrimo, with a less complicated web of a world, with straight forward characters, and a story line that will be fun, but not too complicated.

This is the first time I’m actually fully prepared for my 30 days of creation and I’m revving to go. Though, I have a few things to do before hand. Like find out a little about Montana and New York. I need some weapons knowledge and maybe a little bit on tactical warfare. Just a tad. I don’t need to be an expert on the subjects. I just need enough knowledge that those in the know aren’t going to scream “Bullshit!”. I want to know enough for them to just whisper it, you know?

I’m hoping that those of you who come across this who have the writing bug, whether you want to be published or not, take a few days of your life and participate in some mutual creativity. I think you’ll like the energy of support that Wrimo can give.

And you don’t have to show it to anyone. You can write for you and only you. I find the very act of expressing myself frees me in a way very little else can do. So, come along, play with me. It’ll be sooo much fun!

You can sign up at




© 2008