Something NaNo This Way Comes...

If you're like me, writing has been pretty difficult these past few months. The world was shutting down and we all took that Neil Gaiman quote about "making good art" a little too seriously, not taking into account that the trauma and mental strain that comes along with a global pandemic and nation-wide quarantine might not get our creative juices flowing nearly as much as we'd like them to. 

Going from writing nothing to suddenly devoting an entire month to writing every day might seem like taking off the training wheels and exchanging them for twin turbo engines. But this will be my fifth or sixth time doing NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, (do I count the years I didn't actually finish? Your guess is as good as mine) and here's the mentality I've always had going into it: No one says it has to be good. 

It can be crap. It can be indulgent. It can be bullet pointed outlines of scenes you want to avoid in-between the scenes you actually want to write. No one has to read it or everyone can read it; it's truly up to you! Write that unoriginal star-crossed love story that you've never put down on paper because there's no way it could break through the saturated world of publishing to become an actual book. Let NaNo be an exercise in fun! Because if there's anything we need these days, it's fun, wherever we can get it! 

This year Old Town Books' NaNoWriMo Meetups will look a little different from last year. We'll still have an accountability group meeting every week to discuss progress and pitfalls of projects, but instead of meeting in the shop we'll meet via Zoom. Like last year, we'll start with a short time for everyone to share how their past week has gone writing-wise, then spend an hour just writing together. 

But if you can't make these meetups, don't feel like you can't participate in NaNo with us! We'll have a writing tracker that you can share every week on your Instagram in order to be entered to win prizes at the end of the month, no matter how your progress is going. 

And if you need some help along the way, we've got your back there too! We'll have daily prompts on our Instagram for all your inspiration or writer's block busting needs! Don't miss your opportunity to purchase an Old Town Books' NaNoWriMo Bundle! Choose one of three of our favorite writer-centric books (The Writer's Library by Susan Orlean, Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum, and On Writing by Stephen King) and get everything you need to start your writing journey, including a notebook, a pencil, and an Old Town Books sticker!

At the end of the month, we'll meet for one final wrap-up, where we'll draw winners and hold an informal reading where anyone can read excerpts from their project to the group. 

So join us, whether this is your first or fifth time participating in NaNoWriMo! Choose your word count goal, join us for meetings, and relish in your work. Sign up at oldtownbooks.com in the coming weeks and follow us @oldtownbooks on Instagram for prompts and our weekly word count tracker. Share your progress with other OTB writers using the hashtag #OTBnano!

Blog contribution by Abby Bennsky. Graphics provided by NaNoWriMo. Additional photo and editing by Shannon McCarthy.