NaNoWriMo on the BBC
Published by on November 27th, 2007
Sitting in front of BBC Breakfast morning magazine programme this morning and up pops a short feature about Nanowrimo.
It was a rather trivial piece and would likely go unnoticed by most people, but it is good to know that what is a growing activity every November is gaining some attention from mainstream press - and the one thing any online gek-thing needs for growth is traditional media coverage.
There was an interesting point made by the reporter, however. Writing is traditionally seen as a very solitary activity. Hour after hour locked in a room, locked in a battle with ideas, words, and plots. Nanowrimo has not only started to change that virtually, by focusing thousands of individuals’ efforts on a synchronised goal, it seems to be bringing people together in the real world, too. Small groups of writers have been gathering together and actually writing together - not co-writing, just sitting in close proximity, working on their individual Nanowrimo projects. Who would have thought that writing could be a community activity.
The slight downside to Nanowrimo is the number of one month novels which have found their way into print - just 18. But being published is not hat Nanowrimo is all about. It is about achievement, about reaching a goal thousands of participants might not have reached without the self-imposed soft deadline of one month to write 50,000 words.
I love the idea, and hope that the future sees tens of thousands more people giving it shot each November.
2 Responses to “NaNoWriMo on the BBC”
Nice one Neil. Deserved indeed.
Moleskinerie? You win! ;-p
Also, your work *is* jaw-droppingly detailed!
Congratulations!
Exactly what GD sez - you deserve it
Thank you folks. It’s certainly been a positive boost in motivating to draw some more.
Yes I noticed the Beeb item too, and I’ve been having a bash again this year. I’m also re-editing the 2005-er before I turn it into a book and movie.
rashbre
Welcome and thank you for the comment.
Looking at your page, your NaNoWriMo widget states well over 57,000 words this year - Congratulations!
Good to hear your past efforts are not simply collecting dust. I worry that so many ill go through NaNoWriMo then simply mothball what was accomplished because the exercise is purely focused on a single month’s effort. I’ll bet there are a few promising gems in amongst the thousands of works created each year.