CORNWALL, Ontario – This month sparks the beginning of quite the undertaking for many dedicated writers.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an international event that takes place in November, wherein writers across the globe attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. It was created in 1999, and has grown to the point where in 2015, there were over 400,000 participants.
Around 25 novelists from the SD&G area have already committed to participate in NaNoWriMo.
Lindsay Below and Kim Malboeuf are co-municipal liaisons for the SD&G region, which was originally established in Cornwall in 2010, and then expanded to incorporate a wider area.
“For a lot of people they find 50,000 words to be daunting, but when you break it down, it’s 1667 words per day,” says Below. “Depending on how fast you write that can be an hour, it could be two hours, three hours…it does take time obviously, you’re going to be pledging a big chunk of your November to writing this novel.”
The local group meets at the Cornwall Public Library from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursdays at The Grind from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. There is also a marathon writing day scheduled at the Cornwall library on Saturday, November 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For those located in Chesterville, write-ins are held every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chesterville Branch library.
Those not able to attend write-ins in person can participate via virtual write-ins held on the NaNoWriMo chat rooms.
While all ages are welcome to participate, it is generally aimed at adults, as there is a Young Writers program offered through the NaNoWriMo site that works with teachers to bring in NaNoWriMo as part of the curriculum, and also lowers the chosen word goal because of the students’ age level.
Below started participating in the event in 2008, going on to publish many of her completed NaNoWriMo work as official books. She credits the NaNoWriMo forums as being a great source for feedback and inspiration.
“It’s really a community, which helped me gain confidence in what I’m writing,” says Below. “I wanted to be municipal liaison because I wanted to give that feeling to other people, the feeling of community, because writing is such a solitary activity. I like to be able to bring people together and know that you’re not alone in this and that you get the proper encouragement, which is something that a lot of writers need sometimes.”
The site also includes many writing tools such as word-count helpers and pep talks from established authors.
The main challenge for many would-be authors is to turn off their inner-editor, focusing more on achieving the high word count first rather than having a completely polished manuscript. Malboeuf, who has won the event six times, says participants need to work solely on writing, not worrying about how certain aspects of the book play out until the task is completed.
“If you have a story in mind that you’ve never written, it’s a good time to try it,” says Malboeuf. She encourages writers to set personal milestones regardless of whether they reach the set word count.
“If you only wrote 20,000 words last year go for 21,000. If you can’t get the 50,000 just do your best, do what you can. You might not get the winner title but you’ve accomplished a goal and it’s satisfying (…) I like to look at it as smaller goals, aim for a smaller amount, once you hit that goal, increase it,” says Malboeuf.
“We’re happy to celebrate smaller goals,” adds Below, “If you walk up to us and say your goal is 10,000, we’ll celebrate with you!”
For those who reach the goal of 50,000 words, not only do they have their novel-length work, but NaNoWriMo offers a host of prizes through their sponsors, such as creating free physical copies of completed books or discounts on writing software. Local writers who are eager to participate but may be worried about finishing a whole novel are still encouraged to take part in the event.
“Come out, write with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays, have fun. Connect with people who do the same thing that you do, and who knows, maybe you can get 50,000 words, maybe you’ll just end up getting halfway through your book and you didn’t think you could,” says Below.
Though it is the first year working as co-municipal liaisons for the pair, Malboeuf and Below aim to be on hand to give advice and urge participants to keep plugging away at their work throughout the entire month.
“Hopefully we can encourage people along the way to not give up and try it!” says Malboeuf.
For more information, visit http://nanowrimo.org/regions/canada-ontario-stormont-dundas-glengarry
