This November, more than 100,000 aspiring novelists will attempt to write at least 50,000 words of fiction as part of the 10th annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). National Novel Editing Month doesn’t come until March.
I finished three novels under the inspiration of NanNoWrimo, including my obligatory semi-autobiographical first novel. It helped that I was doing it at the same time as 100,000 other people, and I ended the month in a victory celebration with local Wrimos.
But what if you want to write non-fiction in November? There is no official “NaNoFiWrimo,” though there are the Nano Rebels on the NaNoWriMo Forums – which is mostly people who are writing non-fiction instead of novels.
Caution: non-fiction can’t work unless you’re writing about a subject you’re intimately familiar with, allowing you to type like the wind. So how about 50,000 words of personal philosophy, theology, or advice to your relatives? Memoirs would also work – you could recount your life in November and check the facts with your mother later.
