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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Books Seattle Wins National Novel Writing Month Again

Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 12:27 PM

As I wrote last month, "the Seattle region dominates National Novel Writing Month, when writers from around the world sit down to pound out a 50,000-word novel between November 1 and 30. Nearly 120,000 people participated in National Novel Writing Month last year, and out of 550 regions worldwide, Seattle came in first in the number of words produced (as it has every year for the last four years straight)."

This year is no different: Seattle's Municipal NaNoWriMo Liason, Renda Dodge, sent out an e-mail this morning announcing the 2010 results. Seattle crushed it again:

...I'd like to remind everyone how awesome you are here in Seattle. We're #1 in all categories! We beat LA in final overall word count by 8.1 million words. We hit 10k donated (!!!) and beat NY by $2,300! And in our average words per person war with Atlanta we came in at 3,254 higher per person.

(The donations go to young writer's programs.) Great work, Seattle. There were a few contrarians who tried to rail against NaNoWriMo on the internet this year, but as far as I'm concerned, it's saintly work disguised as play. I find it immensely heartening that thousands of people in town love novels so much that they want to take them apart by hand and see how they work. That can only be a good thing for novels, for literary culture, and for Seattle.

Comments (7) RSS

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Nothing made me appreciate the craft and dedication of novel writers more than trying, and utterly, utterly failing to write a novel of my own.* I am as amazed at the annual accomplishment of these NaNoWriMo participants as I am by Marathon runners.

*conversely, the same grueling experience taught me to despise celebrity "writers" publicizing their latest bestselling ghostwritten work

Posted by Peter F on December 2, 2010 at 12:57 PM

@1. Funny you say so, because this year I ran the full Seattle Marathon and completed NaNoWriMo. The process for both is remarkably similar, as Haruki Murakami wrote about in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Posted by mint chocolate chip on December 2, 2010 at 1:20 PM

This has got to be a nightmare for editors of fictions. Lucky you, Paul, that you're not that kind of editor.

Posted by blab on December 2, 2010 at 1:38 PM

@2, you are my newest hero, then. I salute you in awe.

Posted by Peter F on December 2, 2010 at 1:43 PM

As a first year participant and winner in NaNoWriMo, I have to say that it's a lot harder than it sounds. Writing a novel at all is a marathon event (as Peter F pointed out) but to do so in thirty days is something else.

I highly encourage anyone who has a story to tell and has always wanted to write to take part in NaNoWriMo next year. You'll thank yourself!

Posted by thegreatpablo on December 2, 2010 at 3:03 PM

Posted by thegreatpablo on December 2, 2010 at 3:04 PM

I too am a first year participant and winner, and it took major concentration and dedication to my book to win, There were many days I was sure that I would never make it to 50,000 words, but giving me a deadline forced me to push myself harder than I thought possible. My sister told me about it, so this year I thought I would try. Anyone who thought they are going to sail right through this month had a rude awakening. But it was fun and I would recommend it to others. Thank you for making me want to complete the goal.

Posted by marshaecleveland on December 3, 2010 at 6:10 PM