OCTOBER just ended which means, for artists all over the world, the conclusion of the month-long ink drawing a day challenge or the Inktober challenge.
You might think the challenging days are over, however, for those who are still rearing to further put their abilities to test, it is not the end.
This November, illustrators are not the only ones who get to put themselves to the test because this time, the writers too, with their laptops, papers, pens and coffee, can race to finish a novel in 30 days.
The National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, established in 1999, is a writing challenge wherein the participants will begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel with the deadline set at 11:59 p.m. on November 30.
NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals and build new worlds on and off the page.
“NaNoWriMo is more than just a writing challenge. NaNoWriMo is an opportunity to step out of your everyday life, open your mind to infinite possibilities, and create new worlds with people from around the globe. It’s a joyous leap into unexplored worlds, a laboratory of the imagination, a chance to free yourself from the obstacles that prevent you from telling your story. Our stories help us understand ourselves and others, so we need our stories more than ever in this age to bridge connections and heal divides,” Grant Faulkner, executive director of NaNoWriMo, said.
According to NaNoWriMo, there were 394,507 participants in 646 regions on six continents last year. Of these, more than 58,000 met their month-long writing goal.
At present, there are 9,540 members of NaNoWriMo in the Philippines. An official Facebook group for Filipino participants of NaNoWriMo was also created called Pinoywrimos. They also have Twitter account: @pinoywrimos.
How it works
To get started on your quest to write 50,000-word novel in 30 days, follow these steps given by NaNoWriMo:
- Fill out your profile. Complete your profile so like-minded writers can connect with you.
- Create your novel. In order to update your word count in November, you need to give your novel a title. You can still change it later, so no worries. You cannot write your novel on the site, but you can share a short synopsis and excerpt.
And if you started writing your novel today, its alright as NaNoWriMo welcomes all writers at any stage. Just make sure to only count words written during the month.
- Select your region. Choose a home region to get updates on local events from volunteer Municipal Liaison. Once you've selected your region, your Regional Lounge will appear with the forums.
Two of the Municipal Liaisons in the Philippines are Tina Matanguihan and Anton Chua.
- Earn badges. Earn participation and writing badges by completing specific milestones.
- Get inspired. Starting on November 1, update your word count via the dashboard and header menu.
- Claim your win. Starting on November 20, paste the full text of your novel into NaNoWriMo's word-count validator to win.
If you're not into writing, illustrators can still be challenged this month as November is also Huevember.
Huevember, similar to Inktober, is a month-long art challenge wherein the participants will have to draw or paint an image for a pre-selected color or main hue a day.
According to the rules of Huevember, artists can put all the colors they want in their drawing as long as the hue of the day stays the main visible color of the image.
With all these challenges lined up in November, this will surely be a busy month for writers and illustrators around the globe.