I know its less than two weeks away, but I am eager to get started on my Nanowrimo jaunt this year. It’s weird because those that can write can pretty much do it any time of the year. We can even set ourselves the same challenge of writing a set minimum target in a specified time, so why am I finding this event so exciting. Let me digress a little, there is sort of a point. My wife, Jane, has entered got a place in the London Marathon next year. This race is very important for her. Now she could run any marathon she wanted to. There are far more challenging ones, there are many that are easier to an entry for, as I’m sure the thousands of unlucky applicants for the London Marathon would attest to. She could even just run the distance on her own, not as part of a race. The twenty six point two miles is the same challenge, possibly harder as you need more self-discipline to run alone. However this is not the main point of taking part! Jane has her personal reasons for wanting to run this race in this particular year. All the runners have their own reasons for wanting to run this particular race. The reason this race is so important is that it is iconic; a thing to be a part of; a massive social gathering. As a species we are social animals. We want to be a part of things with other humans all trying to achive the same goal. We want to compete, to show off, to collude, to empathise, and to support.
In the same way all the people entering Nanowrimo are doing the same. There are the atheletes, who write all the time, possible making a living at writing. There are the first timers, who have perhaps not written anything creative since leaving school, but fancy having a go. There are those like me who have done it sucessfully once, and want to see if it was a fluke or not. What Nano provides is a framework. A start and finish line. It gives those of us with busy lives and families permission to set time aside to write. It gives us something to love and hate, to get frustrated with, to cherise, and nurture. At the end we can, if we like, sigh with relief and thank goodness it’s all over; or it can spur us on to write more, to learn how to proof and edit, and self publish. For the atheletes, new or already established, those with real talent, it might mean the possibility of a best seller. The important thing, whatever your reasons and motives for writing in this event is that we’re all in it together. This is why Nanowrimo has grabbed my imagination. I’m never going to write any great works, no bestsellers, but I am going to enjoy the journey, the ending, and the support and attention of my family, family, and of all those other Wrimo’s who give each other a friendly nudge in the forum, mail, and twitter feeds when we reach out for help.
Sunday mornings are good for rambling blogs. Later I will look back at this and cringe. I will be tempted to delete it, but won’t. Happy writing!
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