Over the past few weeks, I’ve been going over old blog posts, deleting irrelevant ones and updating others. In the process I noticed I had a significant number of posts on NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. This prompted me to write an article on how NaNoWriMo helped me write my Dancing Through Life series. When I went on-line to check my facts about NaNo, I discovered that NaNoWriMo shut its doors this year. Hence, this is my farewell to NaNoWriMo.

In place of the former website for NaNoWriMo I get the dreaded “can’t reach this page,” followed by: nanowrimo.org’s server IP address could not be found.  It’s all gone. All my hard-earned badges for successfully writing 50,000 words during November. All of my word counts. Gone. No record that this had ever happened.

My Experience with NaNoWriMo

I first heard about NaNoWriMo thirteen years ago through an NPR broadcast while driving to my brother’s cottage. The idea intrigued me – writing 50,000 words towards a novel in one month. I could never do that, I thought. By the time I came back from the cottage, I had the beginnings of a novel forming in my head. This led to the first book in my series, Dancing on a High Wire.

I had no plans to write a series at the time, but after I finished this book, I felt like my characters had more to say. So, the following NaNoWriMo, I wrote the second book, and then another, the next year. I successfully completed the NaNoWriMo challenge seven times over the course of eight years (though one year I cheated and wrote a non-fiction book instead of fiction). Six of the twelve books in my series were written through NaNoWriMo.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It got to where I anticipated November more than children anticipate Christmas, as I wrote in my blog post, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. I loved planning and then taking off and seeing where my words took me. I blocked out time and waited impatiently for that first day of November.

Thousands of people throughout the world took part in this writing challenge each year. There were also local groups in many cities offering “write-a-thons” and other opportunities to write with other members. While I didn’t participate in any groups or writing events, just knowing I was part of something so much larger motivated me.

I kept track of my word count on the NaNoWriMo website. When I reached 50,000 words, I received a badge and congratulatory email, along with a number of other prizes related to writing, such as discount coupons. But for me, having the draft of a manuscript was reward enough. Then I launched into months of rewriting and editing. The was the gift of this time.

Each year I posted about my progress on my blog, creating more exposure for my books. But beyond that, the momentum I gained each November helped me write the rest of my series at other times of the year. Another gift.

Farewell to NaNoWriMo – Finding Alternatives

I haven’t participated in NaNoWriMo for a number of years. Simply didn’t have another novel in me then. But I have fond memories of those years.

With sadness I say farewell NaNoWriMo. But writers will continue to write. They will continue to gather, write together, talk about writing. That is what writers do.

For some options, go to No Mo’ WriMo.

What about you? Did you NaNoWriMo?