National Novel Writing Month and Book in a Week programs push writers fast. How do they work? Can writers produce anything good when the focus is quantity, not quality?
NaNoWriMo
National Novel Writing Month is perhaps the most well known of the fast writing programs. Writers try to produce an entire 50,000 word novel within the month of November (sign-ups begin October 1st). Writers may plan characters, plot, setting, etc., ahead of time, or just start from scratch on November 1st.
With a stated goal of “quantity, not quality,” is the resulting writing worth it? Yes, say the participants, who have grown from 21 writers in 1999 to more than 79,000 in 2006. By focusing on getting the words out, no matter how bad or good they are, you learn to write more freely, more creatively, without editing as you go. And several projects have become well-received published novels.
That’s not to say that you’ll produce a finished novel in a month. First, for all the thousands of words you string together, 50,000 words may not be enough for a full novel. Second, and more important, your novel will need a great deal of editing and revision. But you will have gotten the story out of your head and have something to work with, and that’s an accomplishment in itself. Read a NaNoWriMo veteran's perspective here.
Book in a Week
The Book in a Week program is a little simpler, and takes place the first full week of every month. Writers post their own page-production goals and then report how they’ve done. They may try to write a whole book, or several short stories, or whatever they want within that week. Again, it has to be new writing, not edited pages.
The Book in a Week motto is “BIC HOC TAM,” or Butt In Chair, Hands on Keyboard, Typing Away Madly. And if you can focus like that for a week, and then spend the next three weeks editing at a slower pace, you’ll have accomplished more than many of us do in much longer period of time.
Write a Book in a Day
If you are interested in children’s books, want to support literature and children’s hospitals Down Under, and want a fun (and exhausting project), consider a group effort to Write a Book in a Day. Teams of 5-10 writers and illustrators set aside one day to write a book for 10-14 year olds. No pre-writing is allowed, although you can organize your plan according to each team member’s strengths. The teams are given the three main characters and the setting (always in Australia) at 8 a.m. The final book, complete with cover, illustrations, binding, etc., must be turned in by 8 p.m.
The finished books are donated to Australian children’s hospitals, and if they go on to regular publication, the proceeds are split between the Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation and the writers. In addition, each team obtains sponsors to donate an entry fee of at least $300 toward the hospitals and the foundation.
This program is open to young writers, as well. Team categories are Primary School, under 18, over 18, and corporate teams, and the younger teams have shorter word count requirements.
