Writing dangerously

November is the month of family, Thanksgiving, shopping, Christmas music, and … novel writing? That's right, November is known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). During the month, more than 100,000 participants around the globe are attempting to reach one goal: finish writing 50,000 words of one novel by midnight on the last day. Students and faculty at Weber State University are among those involved in the challenge. Jim Hutchins, WSU professor of health sciences, is participating in NaNoWriMo for his fourth year. Hutchins first heard about the event from a column in the Standard-Examiner. "I went and looked it up and said 'that is just a wonderful idea,'" Hutchins said. "I have always had a novel in me so I thought this would be a good chance to get it out." Everyone who participates has a different reason, and that reason can change from year to year. "At the time, I was working through some personal issues," said Hutchins in reference to his first year, "and it was a chance for me to sort of indulge myself by killing off some characters." Stephanie Lee, a WSU transfer student majoring in English and German, has participated in NaNoWriMo for three years. "I do NaNo because it helps me kickoff projects," Lee said "It usually helps me focus a lot on brainstorming and get a new novel started." Candice Henrie, a WSU sophomore in English, is in her sixth year of NaNoWriMo and said she views it as a way to challenge herself to finish a project. "Having the deadline adds to the incentive," Henrie said. "I know that I don't have to keep working on this once November is over, which by week two seems wonderful." November is a busy month and adding 50,000 words doesn't make it any easier. Yet, for 10 years people have been visiting nanowrimo.org, with each year increasing the number of participants. There is also a young writers program with its own Web site (www.ywp.nanowrimo.org), allowing participants who are 17-years-old and younger to set a reasonable, yet challenging, word count. The young writer program had 14,000 participants. Even with the month being as busy as it is, last year 15,333 adult writers made it to the word count goal. Many meet troubles along the way. "Life always intrudes," said Hutchins. "There is always something." Lee has a different way of making it through the month. "With lots and lots of caffeine!" Lee said. "Writing converts caffeine into sentences and I usually love to write in coffee shops." What happens when they reach 50,000 words? According to the Web site, anyone who reaches the goal is a "winner." "I have been what NaNo calls a winner," Hutchins said, "which simply means you did 50,000 words in the month of November; some way, some how. They don't even have to make sense." Most seem to make sense as Hutchins also said he was looking for an agent for one of his past NaNoWriMo novels. According to the Web site, a winner has crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, and enters into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. Also, there is a certificate available to print, and, in celebration of the tenth year, CreateSpace has offered to print a free copy of any finished manuscript in paperback format. It seems that more people participate than win the event, but the Web site encourages anyone to try. For more information on National Novel Writing Month visit nanowrimo.org.