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WRITING EVENTS
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Registration for the 2007 NaNoWriMo novel writing race is open NOW!
It's time once again for National Novel Writing Month,
when thousands of writers from around the world aim to write 50,000
words of a novel in the month of November. (see below for results
of last year's NaNoWriMo)
Q: What
is
NaNoWriMo?
(1) A
race to write
a 50,000 word novel in 30 days
(2)
"a fun, seat-of-your-pants
approach to novel
writing"
(3)
an exercise in crazy optimism
(4) an
excuse to have someone else cook the turkey at Thanksgiving
A: The correct answer
is....... "all of the above."
Participants begin
writing November
1st.
The goal is to
write a
175-page
(50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30th. Yes,
really.
The website is open now --
drop by to check out the
invaluable forums,
meet the
vast WriMo writing community, get updates on write-ins and
parties -- all the stuff that makes NaNoWriMo so
motivational and so much fun.
Register
now! it's free, it's fun, you'll write more than you
thought you could faster than you thought was possible.
On your
marks.....get set......write!
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bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
"It was
a dark and stormy night...."
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The
results are in, and the winners
are revealed!
The
goal of this international literary parody contest is to find the best
writer of the worst opening sentence for an imaginary novel, in several
categories.
The contest "honors" the Victorian novelist Edward George Earl
Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), who commenced one novel with the famous
words (often attributed to
Snoopy):
"It was a dark and
stormy night..."
Nothing wrong with that... if only he'd stopped there, instead of
continuing:
"...the rain fell in torrents --
except at occasional intervals, when it was
checked
by a violent
gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in
London
that our scene
lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely
agitating
the scanty
flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
Phew. But this pales in comparison to the lurid
lines penned by the entrants in the
contest named for Bulwer-Lytton. Run-on sentences,
awkward syntax, anachronistic
similes, metaphors run amok....Congratulations to
the winners! It takes real talent
to create such funny and appallingly bad writing.
My favorite (runner-up) develops a fine froth of indignation at a
hypothetical
editor, before concluding: "you've got to ask
yourself one question:
'Do I feel loquacious?' --
well, do you punk?"
Want to compete in the next contest? Here
are the Rules.
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 Wild
Writing Women
Literary Salon
First
Wednesday every month at 5:30 pm
Monticello Inn
127 Ellis Street (near
Union Square)
San Francisco
94102
These evenings have become mini-seminars with experienced authors
offering great insights on the craft of writing. The WWW salon is free, open to
the public, and no reservations or RSVPs are required.
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Nanowrimo
and beyond
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National
Novel Writing Month
is over for 2006
Congratulations to the winners!
Re-Cap: In
November, a
record numbr of participants (approximately
80,000)
around the world churned out 982,523,177
words.
An
amazing 12,945
participants
are winners! having written a novel of 50,000 words (or more) during
November.
Registration
for the
next NaNoWriMo opens
on October 1, 2007.
Meanwhile, you can plot, plan, procrastinate (helpful links below)....
...or, get
started!
National Novel Writing Year is
a year-round spin-off on the NaNoWriMo concept and you can sign up
right now!
Do you think
it's just insane to try and write
50,000 words in a single month?
Or do you love the
external
deadlines
and community support of NaNoWriMo so much, you
wish
it were
there all year round? Either way, NaNoWriYe
is for you! Select the word count
"club" that suits your goal (50,000, 100,000, 250,000, etc.), register,
and thereafter submit your word count to the club moderator for
verification every month.
Projects
allowed
include: novels, short stories, all genres including
fan-fiction; new or continuations of works-in-progress; and more than
one each year.
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