The online forum for the Five College area’s chapter of National Novel Writing Month displays a simple message: “Come one, come all!” So, we did.
Last Thursday, Nov. 7, representatives from the Sophian braved the cold and took a trip into downtown Northampton to Haymarket Cafe to meet the local writing group participating in National Novel Writing Month. Fondly known as ‘NaNoWriMo,’ this annual national tradition presents a seemingly simple goal — attempt to write 50,000 words of an original manuscript within the thirty days that November provides. As many who have attempted can attest, it is not as simple as it sounds. NaNoWriMo is an online based project that is supported by hundreds of local writing groups just like the one we met in the Haymarket Cafe.
Descending into the lower level of Haymarket, we knew we had spotted the writers when we came across several people, heads buried in their laptops, typing furiously. We waited a few moments for any last stragglers to arrive, and then the meeting began in earnest at 7 pm sharp. Naila Moreira, in addition to her role as a lecturer in the English department at Smith and a member of the Jacobson Center staff, has served as the municipal liaison for the Five College area chapter of NaNoWriMo for the past four years. After she led a quick round of introductions and check-ins, the group of about six or seven writers began their work.
As a municipal liaison, Moreira is responsible for organizing writing meet-ups, running the online forum, and for supporting participating local writers. When asked how she discovered NaNoWriMo, she said, “well, I’ve been a writer forever.” She began participating in NaNoWriMo about ten years ago while living in Seattle, and has taken part ever since. Moreira stresses that the purpose of NaNo is not always to publish your own work but simply for the experience. “It’s a really amazing, generative practice,” she said.
Her sentiments on the “purpose” of NaNo were echoed by other writers in the group. Elizabeth and Analua, two high school juniors from the Pioneer Valley area, spoke to their already extensive involvement with the organization. They both first participated in NaNoWriMo in the seventh grade when they were urged to try out events hosted by the Young Writers Program of NaNoWriMo at their local library. Both ardent readers and aspiring writers at the time, they surprised themselves with how much they accomplished in those first few years — in November of seventh grade Elizabeth completed 25,000 words, and in eighth grade Analua completed 20,000. Since then, Elizabeth has written approximately 126,477 words, working on anything from short stories to her current novel project, as long as it includes an element of fantasy. Analua successfully completed a draft of a novel in Nov. 2018, completing 100,000 words.
Both agreed that NaNoWriMo is not so much a hard and fast deadline to complete a novel, but an inspiring challenge that helps writers actually put words on the page. As Analua said, “The word count is a manifestation of a commitment I am making to myself, to my writing, to the story I want to tell.” Now, all these years later, Elizabeth and Analua go out in search of writing groups like these to find support in the community to help foster their ambitions.
Also in attendance was a full-time writer, editor, book coach, and Smith graduate, Susanne’76’91. As the more experienced member of the group, she spoke to what she perceives is the true intention of NaNoWriMo. “A lot of established writers turn their nose up at NaNoWriMo, but I don’t think they really understand what it’s purpose is. It’s not to say, ‘oh, I can write a novel in a month,’ because nobody can really do that — it’s just to get people excited about writing and to create a sense of community around it.” As a published author, Susanne has spent years playing around with the NaNo format and making it work for her, often adapting her current projects to the spirit of the tradition.
Finally, I spoke with Alexandra Neal, who is newer to the NaNoWriMo scene. This is Neal’s second time participating after Nov. 2017 when she attempted to complete her idea for a novel but was stuck at 2,500 words. This year, though, Neal has learned from these mistakes and has tried to create a more manageable goal. A self-identified editor-as-you-go, she said, “I’m trying to trick myself out of these habits which I feel like is part of what NaNo forces you to do.” Currently working on what she calls a “queer, modern, fantasy novel,” Neal is using this year’s NaNoWriMo as a way to get back into writing and into the greater community while indulging her creative interests. “I can do something extremely silly, like two vampire characters who were just turned in the 2000s,” she said.
For such a small group of writers, their diverse set of motivations and creative interests was astounding. When I asked what motivated them to continue writing I received a bevy of responses. As Neal said, “I’ll get these ideas in my head, and they need to be written somehow.” Analua spoke to yet another one of her interests, activism, and said, “I realized writing was one of the ways I could most effectively express my thoughts and ideas about social justice.” NaNoWriMo makes room for it all.
Under the warm orange glow of Haymarket Cafe, with the sound of a guitar coming from the far corner, the atmosphere amongst this small group of creative minds was inspiring and electrifying, but most of all, supportive. Each person joins NaNoWriMo at a different starting place and with a different goal in mind — some with fully formed novels under their belts, and others who may just be starting out. A love for writing and the deep sense of community centered around NaNoWriMo is what brought these few writers out of the comfort of their homes in order to develop their passion together, and is what inspires them to continue writing everyday. As Elizabeth said to me, “everyone should go write!” This would not be a bad place to start.
