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This week: NaNoWriMo & Other Writing Sprints Edited by: Jeff  
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"The two most engaging powers of an author are to make
new things familiar, and to make familiar things new."
-- Samuel Johnson
Trivia of the Week: By now, most of us are familiar with the story of how E.L. James' bestselling Fifty Shades trilogy got its start as Twilight fanfiction. But James is hardly the only author to dabble in fanfiction over the years. Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries) wrote Star Wars fanfiction, S.E. Hinton (The Outsiders) wrote a few stories set in the Supernatural universe, and Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments series) developed quite a following as a writer of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fanfiction. |
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NANOWRIMO & OTHER WRITING SPRINTS
It's about that time of year again... National Novel Writing Month, often shortened to NaNoWriMo, begins on November 1st! Which means that a lot of people around the site and everywhere else will soon embark on a crazed, month-long sprint to write 50,000 words. NaNoWriMo is a very popular activity around the world (nearly 500,000 participants on the official website alone), and among writers here on Writing.Com. Check out the featured item links below for some WdC activities being run in connection with NaNoWriMo this year!
The particulars of what NaNoWriMo are have slowly changed over the years. At the beginning, it was for novelists trying to write 50,000+ words of a novel. But as writer and reader interests have changed, so have the kinds of things competitors work on. It's not at all uncommon now to have writers attempting nonfiction, short fiction or essay collections, screenplays, or any of a variety of other writing efforts during the event. One of the questions I get most often as the organizer of a NaNoWriMo event is, "Does my project qualify for NaNoWriMo?"
For me, there are two parts to a proper answer. The first is that NaNoWriMo has certain "official" rules if you want to participate on the official site. Mainly that you create an account on their website, write what would be considered "a lengthy work of fiction," i.e. 50,000 words or more), and copy and paste your written text into their word count validator to get a verified word count at the end of the month. So, depending on what you want to write, you may or may not qualify for the official NaNoWriMo activity... although it should be noted that no one is keeping tabs on you or insisting that they be allowed to read what you've written to disqualify you, so it's kind of based on the honor system. 
But the second part of my answer is that it's not really about whether your project "qualifies" as an official NaNoWriMo entry. The point of the activity is to motivate yourself to finish a longer work that requires a real investment of time, energy, and effort. A lot of writers procrastinate when they have flexible deadlines (or no deadlines at all!), and the greater purpose of the activity is to get you motivated with a fixed deadline that you can't explain away or push back. And in that respect, it doesn't really matter what you write, as long as you're committed to finishing whatever writing project you undertake.
In fact, if novel writing isn't your thing, there are a wide variety of alternative activities that have popped up over the years that you may want to consider if you're looking for camaraderie but aren't necessarily interested in novels and other "lengthy works of fiction":
 WNFIN: Write Non-Fiction In November
NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month (now held every month, apparently)
NaPoWriMo: National Poetry Writing Month (held in April)
52-Week Short Story Challenge
365-Day Journal Challenge
Script Frenzy (held in April)
NaNoEdMo: National Novel Editing Month (held in March)
You can pretty much find an activity for any kind of writing you want to do, and that's a great thing... because again, the emphasis shouldn't be on what you're writing or trying to fit your interests into someone else's definition of what you should be writing. The emphasis should be on motivating yourself to actually finish something, especially if speculative work without deadlines results in you not ever finishing anything. If that's you, it might be worth looking into one of these activities that strikes your fancy and committing to finishing whatever you set out to do. 
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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I encourage you to check out the following items:
EXCERPT: It’s another year and you realize that November is just around the corner. If you’re a writer like many of us, you’ve furiously been working through October NaNo Prep so you can have a better idea of what your novel is going to look like when you start writing it next month. Or, just perhaps, you’re one of those few people who have the precious gift of being able to just wing it and when November first comes you sit down somewhere and start writing.
Whatever your plan is for next month with regards to your technique of writing your novel, remember to take as much time in planning your workspace as you did your how to write your novel. Depending upon the type of person you are, there are a few things you want to make sure you need.
EXCERPT: One day, I had an epiphany. Why not write a book and self-publish through Amazon? I knew exactly what I wanted to write about, so I just went with it. This happened not long after I decided to make writing a full-time career. I completed the short book in just two days. I skimmed it over (mistake) and began the process of self-publication.
EXCERPT: Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". A much admired personality across the world, Dylan has a special connection with Bengal through the Baul folk singers who roam around the countryside singing songs accompanied by either a single string (Ektara) or double string instrument (Dotara).
EXCERPT: On Sunday last I received this awesome C-note out of the blue from GabriellaR45  that I was chosen among 21 other writers at Writing.com, to participate in this wonderful project called The  Rising stars Program 2016-2017.
EXCERPT: Cyra McFadden's “In Defense of Gender” is a sarcastic response to what she considers the "neutering of the English language" (McFadden, 9). On the surface, her views seem objective but in reality, they're subjective. She supports those feelings with evidence that suggests her being capable of maturely articulating herself. Unfortunately, for me, this article reeks of anti-feminist and cis-privileged sentiments that don't sit well with my tastes, even though there are moments where I agree with her articulations.
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Feedback from my last newsletter about adverbs ("For Authors Newsletter (September 28, 2016)" ):
Angel  writes: "Thank you, Jeff, for this informative newsletter. I struggle all the time with so many elements of grammar that I'm grateful to all those who take the time to write down anything to do with the basics.
I know it sounds crazy but I have a Degree in English Literature and I still struggle with what I class as the 'Theory of English Grammar', or maybe the 'Technical part of English Grammar'. It is so frustrating for me when someone reviews a piece of my work and makes a comment on the 'Theory' so to speak, and I don't understand what they mean. I have to say, that it seems I can write reasonably well, but it's hard to improve if you don't understand how.
So, again I thank you for taking the time to produce this. Thank you also for the book list, I will look into those with curiosity; plus the other links that I also found useful.
Angel"
Thanks for taking the time to write in! And don't get discouraged; most of us have at least a few issues with the English language that we find difficult. I struggle to keep the tense of my writing consistent, and for the life of me I can never seem to use the correct form of "lie" or "lay."
QueenOwl ~ A New Day Dawns writes: "You're one great mentor, Jeff.
Thank you for this well-written, informative, and educational newsletter.
QueenOwl is Back."
Thank you so much for the kind words! 
Sally writes: "It's great to read a comprehensive, impartial, informed view on adverb use.
As a teacher, I obviously taught kids to use them, and they gained marks for using them. I believe adverbs aren't 'bad'. It is a hard habit to curtail when beginning to write more seriously. I really like your description: it is not about adverbs being a 'mistake', there are just stronger choices we can make that will enhance our writing.
An excellent article. Thank you!"
Thanks for taking the time to send in your feedback!
eyestar~* writes: "OH this is excellent as I had read about Ly adverbs and your advice clears up a lot of misconceptions. I didn't think of using them as wrong either but did see how using so many of them do take from a piece of writing where a more distinct descriptive would be more vivid and potent. I like your suggestions for how to mention it. My first udnerstanding of this came when an author here told us her publisher sent back her manuscript for editing and one of the edits was to remove all of the adverbs! LOL I like that balance and audience are keys. This is highly useful and well expressed! Thanks Jeff."
My pleasure! Part of me would want to send that manuscript back to that editor with literally every adverb removed just to show how ridiculous it is when someone makes a generalized statement like that. 
slavezero writes: "Regarding adverbs then, alright. You were preaching to the choir on this one. I've received a multitude of reviews maligning my work for the presence of adverbs. Adverbs are discouraged for good reason. I think they are easy to abuse and I do try to limit their use. But I can't always agree that I've done something egregious by writing a 3-5K piece with a maximum of 5-10 -ly adverbs all throughout. But of course there are other ways to judge misuse of adverbs than adverb to word count ratio which you've mentioned in this great newsletter.
You mentioned Stephen King. I've read about his dislike for adverbs as well, but I recently finished a book by him and these could be found all over the place. My writing would benefit if I reduced my usage of adverbs to occur at the rate they show up in his work, but I still found it surprising especially considering I couldn't find anything from him talking about when it is okay to use them. I'm sure that's out there somewhere though.
As far as reviews go, I think I do agree with what you've said. Reviewing is much more tactfully and respectfully received when the reviewer suggests an area where they see room for improvement as just that; a suggestion for improvement, but not as though it were a universal truth. Doing so can be harmful to the writer. The reviewer should be respectful of the writer's work, while the writer should be respectful of the reviewer's opinion. However, if a reviewer expresses an opinion regarding adverb use, writing style, what have you, I'm of the opinion that the writer should be able to seek clarification. This is not for the purpose of fomenting a debate, but rather to allow the writer to be enlightened of how other's may perceive their work. Given that both the reviewer and the writer convey their ideas and thoughts and opinions respectfully and without close-mindedness, there should come forth an opportunity for both to learn from one another."
I've often said the same thing about Stephen King's writing. I love the guy's work, but for someone who is so outspokenly critical of adverbs, he doesn't seem to have any trouble using them himself. And I love the idea of having a dialogue between writer and reader; the world could use more civil discourse where differing opinions can come together for the purposes of an enlightening conversation!
papadoc1 writes: "Hey Jeff! THANKS for the advice and the informative newsletter! I will never look at an adverb in the same way again! I realise that it indeed shall have an impact on my writing, so much so that if I use them as much as I have...my writing shall take on a certain appearance of being....PATHETICALLY b-a-d.
I have been advised.
If S. King says, I believe it.
Case closed."
Thanks for writing in!
Joshua Dyer/ J.E. Dyer writes: "While I agree that adverbs can be great when used sparingly (see that?), too many bog down the flow of your prose. I cite any work of Phillip K. Dick as a great example. "
I believe the appropriate idiom, applicable to adverbs as much as anything else, is "all things in moderation."
Detective writes: "This was a very helpful newsletter as I find the use of adverbs tricky. This will help me in my own writing. "
Glad I could be of assistance!
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For Authors: October 26, 2016 Issue [#7940]
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