The Novelist Next Door: National Novel Writing Month

Have you been talking about that Great American Novel you were going to write since you were a teenager? You wrote maybe a few pages, and now those pages are disintegrating in your desk drawer. Well, perhaps you should get back on it because you're surrounded by burgeoning novelists and thrill-seekers right here in Boston, and they're all trying to churn out a 50,000-word manuscript by the end of this month.

These scribblers, who may be sitting by you on the T or sneaking plot twists in at the office, are part of National Novel Writing Month, in which people vow to churn out a novella between November 1 and November 30. Since NaNoWriMo, as it is lovingly called, started in 1999, the number of people participating has swelled from 21 in 1999 to 59,000 in 2005, and many of the current participants are right here in Boston.

NaNoWriMo participants don't lock themselves away in a room to meet the 50,000-word goal. They meet regularly for "write-ins" that are run by municipal liaisons, which prompts a healthy sense of competition and helps to overcome the loneliness of writing. Travis Kelley, a local municipal liaison who is in the process of churning out his third book, Don't Look Back, admits, "I set a bad example at write-ins, though, as I chat with people, take photos and the occasional video of one of my wrimos goofing off, etc. I guess, in this case, rationalization (I'm just doing my job) is the worst ally of procrastination."

But the write-in proves to aspiring novelists that they aren't alone in their struggles with the written word. Another participant, Pamela Aghababian, describes the sense of companionship that arises: "It's definitely not as daunting when you're sharing a room with 5, 10, or 20 other people as crazy as you. We had a write-in at Toscanini's in Central Square last night -- we took up almost every single seat in the house, and lots of people came in for ice cream and left interested in what we were doing."

If you thought that writing a 50,000 page novel in a month would be difficult, it is. But these authors have found ways to break through writer's block and overcome the temptation to procrastinate. Kelley reveals that he had a secret weapon while working: "My wonderful friend and doorman, Ennio, would come by my desk periodically, and, if I wasn't typing, he'd smack the desk and demand I start again. He wanted me to finish, too, which was a great motivator. If everybody had an Ennio, we'd all succeed."

For those who don't have an Ennio, Aghababian suggests that you get out of the house if you want to finish your novel. Aghababian explains, "There are too many distractions around the house, so I prefer to write in a place where my distractions are limited to food, coffee, people, and occasionally, wifi."

Andra Skaalrud, a college student in Boston, recommends the write-in as an excellent motivator because it's important to have "writing buddies to give you encouragement and taunt you into writing more." Skaalrud also notes that, if you keep writing, you'll go too far in the plot to turn back: "The first two weeks I wrote enough to get me too deep into it to consider quitting. I mean, after writing 20,000 words in two weeks, you're not going to give up."

You aspiring writers might be thinking that National Novel Writing Month is for you, but what if you don't even have a plot yet? Aghababian says she is in love with her plot, and for good reason - she's transporting the tale of the Trojan War to a college campus. Skaalrud is drawing on her personal experiences with camping and hiking for her storyline. Kelley jokes, "I would love to tell you the fascinating plot twists going on. Unfortunately, that would require a coherent plot, which I haven't found yet." However, he plans to keep shaping up his 2005 NaNoWriMo manuscript and see where that takes him.

These writers' experiences show that you might have the Great American Novel in you, but no one's going to know about it unless you sit down and start doing the genuinely hard work - which is getting your feelings and emotions out on paper in a language that others can understand. It's tough, but National Novel Writing Month is proving that it can be enjoyable and rewarding, too.