Happy NaNoWriMo 2024

Happy November! How the hell did that get here already?

Happy NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) 2024. This year I’m not doing it the traditional way which was to power through and write 50 000 words in a first draft of a novel in 30 days. The word count rule has since changed to make it flexible. The idea is that one focuses on getting the story out as quickly as possible without thinking about editing or overthinking the process.  Editing would be saved for the next draft.

I participate every several years. I have been a member since 2007. I made it to 50,046 words in 2014 (it has been 10 years aleady??!!!)  when I wrote a first draft of the novel very very loosely based on my life and the lives of my parents and an amalgamation of my siblings Zenzo, Thuto, Poloko and Mkhululi. It spans the 1960s through the 1990s and takes place in Harlem, DC (mostly at Howard University in the 60s then the 90s), Bulawayo, Joburg and Cape Town. It was an ambitious shit show, but guess what?  I actually finished a 1st draft.

The NaNoWriMo Wizard bracelet I wear to this day after “winning” NaNoWriMo in 2014.

There are chapters in my novel that end in the middle of sentences. Highlighted sections that were supposed to be revised.  Sections that ended with “and other stuff happened.” More spelling error than I usually make. (And I make a ton in general on a regular basis.)  However incomplete and a mess it was, a first draft was done.

We were given the opportunity by the NaNoWriMo folks to get our finished first drafts printed and I took them up on it. So I have two copies of my very drafty novel sitting on my bookshelf. Needless to say, I did not go back to revise the novel because life did that thing that it does.  Some day I will get back to it.

The two copies of the novel that I had printed. Front and back.

In the years since, I have used  NaNoWriMo and its more flexible April (and apparently also July) program to catch-up on some scripts.

My experience of the NaNoWriMo community has always been great but there was apparently some community drama over the past few years that resulted in a bunch of changes that you can read about here. One of the best community aspects of NaNoWriMo were the in-person and virtual writing dates.  It was a great way to meet other writers and to have a sense of camaraderie as you slog through your pages. There oddly aren’t any events scheduled in NYC (or any place) so far.  I’m not sure if that is because of the drama I mentioned above.  I could maybe plan something (as I did in the past by hosting 1 or 2 community writing sessions) but I can barely organize the stuff I have on my plate already so maybe not.

This year I am going to use NaNoWriMo to write every day this month the feature script I have been working on since the beginning of the year. I am 42 pages in and liking the process a lot so far and loving the characters and story.  It is about 4 refugees dealing with justice/revenge, betrayal/forgiveness/redemption and if one can really return home.

I would also like to post something everyday to this blog. I’m giving myself the latitude and grace to post whatever I’m moved to post. This could be me yapping on about something/anything or could be something as simple as posting a photo.  This is to get back into the habit of consistently posting on here. I will do a recap/evaluation of these plans at the end of the month to see how well I do.

In the meantime, Happy November. Happy NaNoWriMo. And see you tomorrow.

Me 10 years ago yapping about how to “win” NaNoWriMo. I just rewatch this and these are some decent tips.
PS. I don’t use Evernote anymore I now use Notesnook which is better, cheaper and much more privacy-focused.