For most, November means colder weather and leaves on the ground, for some, it means a nice helping of turkey, for the crazy few, it means writing like there’s no tommorow. For those who don’t know, this month is National Novel Writing Month and during this month, aspiring writers trying to write a short novel in the short time of a month.

For 30 days, this month, writers will stress themselves over plot, characters, and reaching the ever so elusive number of 50,000.  A few committed writers (who have won NaNo in the past) will resort to moving into a large fallout shelter located somewhere in the middle of Colorado.  This month have caused some to go insane — like Richard Heene, who after being unable to sell his story about a boy who gets kidnapped by aliens in a giant mylar balloon to Random House Publishing , cracked and decided to perform a nationally televised publicity stunt.  Whatever this month does to you, one thing’s for sure; you will have some sort of writing done by the end of it all.

I have never entered this NaNo competiton before, and I will not start this year.  But, why not offer some advice to the crazy brave souls who enter the competition.

1) Don’t stress over word count.

I am going to be breaking the biggest rule in NaNo right now, but I feel it’s important to say this.  For me, personally, I find more pleasure in writing something good that might be a bit short, than writing something long that’s crap. There are people who get writer’s block, and stress over being behind schedule and such.  If you get writer’s block — you get it, just talk a walk, play some Pokemon, write for LW (totally different concept here people!), or dance to House of Pain and then go back to the tedious workspace you have set up for your writing ventures.  After a while, you will get what you want on paper, and it won’t be at the reader’s expense.

2) Do not stress at all.

It is a for fun, you win nothing competiton after all. It’s not like the starving orphans in Darfur are counting on you to reach as many words as you can for monetary pledges.

3) Make sure you are comfortable.

Make your workspace comfortable! Have some hot drink next to you, a plush Squritle/Mudkip/Pikachu, ample light, and a computer and/or typewriter. Yes, I just said typewriter. Light music (not Green Day) playing in the background is also good and should add to a calm serene environment. You will most likely not be calm and serene when you are writing about ninjas fighting unicorns for the horde!  You will want to kick a baby in the nuts; so it’s best that at least your environment be calm and serene. For the sake of the baby.

3) Do not let NaNo interfere with your life.

By life, I mean LW. Subtle hint for our staff.

4) Produce something you can be proud of.

This all goes back to my quality vs quantity point. Word count should be irreleveant; it’s only a motivating tool. What really matters is what you write, and how you personally feel about it. 

That’s all the advice I have for you right now.  If you want more advice about how to write a short book in a short time, ask Sarah Palin or Miley Cyrus. They are both really good at that.

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