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November Is National Everything Month

Travel
by Candice Walsh Nov 1, 2011
If you’re experiencing some writer’s block, November is probably gonna be good for you.

IT’S THE FIRST day of November, and already my Twitter feed is littered with everyone’s trials and tribulations of participating in NaNoWriMo. I’m amused and slightly envious. I’m not one of those people who can write under extreme pressure.

But then I saw this tweet from JoAnna Haugen:

“Between #NaBloPoMo #NaNoWriMo #PiBoldMo and #NaTraWriMo I’d say November is a busy month. Why all in one month?”

I hadn’t even heard of the others. It was like a hashtag explosion. So I figured, hey, maybe I’m not the only one in the world feeling alienated by acronyms. Thank goodness for Google.

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month. Probably the most popular of them all, NaNoWriMo is a goal to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, before November ends. In a way, it goes against everything we’ve been taught as writers, because in this case quantity is more important than quality. You’re gonna write a lot of crap. You’re gonna be balls to the wall for a full month.

According to the organization, this approach “forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.” I kinda love that challenge.

NaBloPoMo

Probably the most fun to say aloud in a crowded cafe, NaBloPoMo is National Blog Posting Month (i.e. 30 blog posts in 30 days). Hosted by BlogHer, participants visit the site for a daily prompt relating to this year’s theme: BETWEEN. Today’s prompt is “What is your favourite thing about writing?”

Win prizes every day, get inspired to write, and join the blogroll. Only 1128 people are doing it.

BootsnAll also has their own fun travel version dubbed 30 Days of Indie Travel.

PiBoldMo

This one stands for Picture Book Idea Month, with the intent of creating 30 new picture book ideas in 30 days. Prizes include signed books, critiques, original artwork, jewellery, handmade journals, etc.

All you have to do is sign up and repeat the pledge 10 times fast!

NaTraWriMo

Finally, NaTraWriMo is National Travel Writing Month. Initially it was planned for November; however, it appears as though it’s now being postponed until January. Just the same, it’s the brainchild of Christine Gilbert and comes with the mission of sending 31 query letters in 30 days.

Now you just have to decide which one you’d like to do most. Or maybe you’ll do all of them, if you’re a superstar like that. Who’s in?

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