Should You Do NaNoWriMo?

Aaaaand I’m back to my regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule! Thanks for your patience during the downtime…

It’s that time of year again. Excited chatter is building across the Internet, preparations are being made, supplies are being bought. Yes, National Novel Writing Month is coming up.

You’ve probably heard of it, even if you haven’t participated. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November — 1,667 words a day. To support this goal, participants are encouraged to go to local in-person meet-ups or hang out on the website’s forums. The prize for finishing? A certificate and bragging rights — nothing more, nothing less.

But how do you know if NaNoWriMo is for you?

Weekly Roundup

We survived another week! (Almost. I am writing this on Thursday night.) Here’s what I’ve got for you this week…

books

What’s the difference between high fantasy and epic fantasy? Here’s one well-reasoned argument. And here’s another one based on the level of the stakes.

general geekery

Ever wondered what Harry Potter would look like as a girl? Now you can find out: Genderswapped Harry Potter characters.

inspiration

When I am 101 years old, I want to be like this paragliding great-grandmother.

Domythic Bliss had a wonderful series last week looking at mobile houses: Roma-inspired wagons, trucks, boats, and buses.

For writers (and interested third parties)

Kristen Lamb debunks the myth that Real Writers never struggle.

Ollin Morales writes about how chasing your writing dreams may not be enough — you also have to chase your other dreams.

If you’ve been reading too many blogs or books on writing craft and tearing your hair out because you don’t write like that, Tahereh Mafi has an awesome post on how there is no right way to write. She also talks with beautiful openness about being a debut novelist (a.k.a. a Real Writer), how it changes you and how it doesn’t.

(Can you tell the space I’m in with my writing this week?)

That’s all for now, folks. Happy Friday!