For the last several years I've heard about this program that has been going on encouraging people to write, whether you have dreams of being an author or simply enjoy writing and need encouragement to physically do it. There are many positive reasons to participate but there can as with anything have some draw backs to it.
This will be my first year participating. I'll admit a friend of mine talked me into it so for me this is more of an experiment to see how it goes and I plan on reviewing the process and sharing that and my progress as it goes.
I've had several friends who have participated with this program and seem happy or stressed by it. I've never participated mainly because I don't like the idea of rushing your writing. There are many ideas or directions you might have gone and written better if you had taken your time. Many opportunities to write your best might be lost by rushing your writing. It's best to see this as more of a writing exercise rather then trying to get a novel finished by the deadline. If you don't finish on time don't consider it a failure, it only meant you needed more time and there is nothing wrong with that. This is simply to encourage you to make time to write.
The program says that you start November 1st and the last day to record the amount you have written is November 30th. Some have already started writing their novels, which I understand being nervous whether or not you will finish on time but unfortunately starting your novel before it actually starts defeats the purpose of the writing exercise. According to the site you can enter your title for your book which can be changed at any time and it has a spot to enter a synapsis of your story. It also has an exert but hopefully you don't have that part otherwise it shows you've already started. You can also upload the cover for your book but it's not required. Another problem would be if you published your novel right after submitting your 50k word requirement. Make sure you go through it and edit your book. Look for story flow, are there interruptions, difficult areas to read through, parts readers might not understand what you are saying. character confusion, grammar and spelling are extremely important.
The November event is easy to participate with. It has a page that you put in your goals, keeps track of your progress and does not keep a copy of what you have written so make sure you keep a copy either on thumb drive or somewhere else so that you don't lose what you worked hard on. Simply enter your word count and your set for that day. At the end you enter your entire word count by copy and pasting your novel into the given slot and it counts them up for you. This event isn't looking for edited writing or perfect writing. It's simply to see if you can hit a goal or keep you motivated.
I found after participating with this program it was rather enjoyable however there is not much interaction with other writers. There is a message board but many of the messages get lost in the jumble and your comment, question or encouragement could sit there for a long time. Threads that get started do not leave room for conversation other than the first one started. Nano has a "campnano" that it holds in April and May. Much like the November one, this you are set in a group with 19 other people. It shows their goals and progress but the interaction is much better as there is an area only your cabin can comment into to encourage each other. You will get some who are put in there and for whatever reason never start or participate in anyway. There will be others who genuinely are looking for encouragement and want others tot talk to while going through this process. If your more independent than the November event is more for you however you can get to know people much better in the smaller groups.
The camps are rather nice. You can either finish a piece you are working on, either to finish writing it or to edit it or you can start with a fresh story. You can either pick hours spent writing or word count. The word count is much easier to keep track of, especially if you only have a few minutes each day.
Either way this program has a lot of potential, it does promote its own writers quite a bit when offering advice. At least they are upfront about where the money donated goes. It will be interesting to see how this progresses over the many years to come.
