Rapid writers: November is National Novel Writing Month
By JOHN PUTERBAUGH -
jputerbaugh@daily-chronicle.com
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| Northern Illinois Unviersity student Melissa Johnson searches for images to use in a collage on Saturday. DeKalb's National Novel Writing Month group met at the university to kick off this year's event, which runs Nov. 1-30. The group met to enjoy each others' company and to inspire creativity through these visual projects. (Beck Diefenbach - bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com) |
A group of writers met Saturday to prepare for a feat of literary accomplishment.
In Northern Illinois University's Davis Hall, members of the DeKalb National Novel Writing Month group gathered to kick off a new year. NaNoWriMo presents writers with quite a challenge: to write a 50,000-word novel between Nov. 1-30.
At Saturday's event, group members created collages to kick off the month with a bit of creative collaboration. These visual projects, which bring together separate ideas and elements to create a single vision, are done to help spur creativity.
DeKalb's NaNoWriMo group, led by Mary Kowalski and Kathy Kitts, will meet each Sunday of November at Barnes and Noble in DeKalb for "write-ins." These write-ins provide the group's rapid writers with a good dose of enthusiasm, support and fun, healthy competition.
"I've found that writing with a group of friends really helps," said Jen Justice, who has written with the DeKalb group for the past six years. "One of the hardest things is, it's a manageable goal, but it's huge. It's incredibly exciting and there's definitely a letdown."
The nature of this beast also lends itself to a bonding process between group members. With a group of writers and a single, common goal, everyone is on the same page, Kitts said. Many are accomplished writers and many are not, but it doesn't matter within the group.
"When we're here, we're all in the same boat," Kitts said.
"Hardship binds people together," said Justin Difazzio of DeKalb, who is writing with the group for his fourth year. "And there's nothing more stressful than trying to put a novel together in a month."
"Some of the best friends I've ever made are in this group," said Jenny "Sunne" Fick of Elgin. Fick, an NIU alumnus, has written with the group for four years.
As far as actually advancing the story in a meaningful way, the weekly write-ins can fill a vital role. Writers bring questions, problems and hang-ups to the group in the hopes of getting a few outside perspectives. Despite getting help from others, a good deal of self discipline is required to pen a novel in 30 days.
Talk to any NaNoWriMo writer and you'll hear about the "inner editor" and the pitfalls it can present if not suppressed.
"To get 50,000 words down, you gotta turn your inner editor off," said Dale Cozort of DeKalb. "And it makes you a better writer."
Cozort explained you can't worry about the little things when you're getting started. You're always going to go back and edit your work, but it's important just to let it flow as you're getting started, he said.
With NaNoWriMo being an international event, the DeKalb group also incorporates a friendly competition with a similar group in Perth, Australia. They've worked with the Australian group for a couple years, and always kick the month off by sending each other a selection of each country's candy. The Australian group even held the same collage event on Saturday.
While the process is an exciting one, group members also described the unique challenge in finishing the month.
"When you're at the end, it's exhilarating, but it's a little sad," Difazzio said.
"I'm along for the ride," Kowalski said. "I love it."
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Know more
Those interested are welcome to join the DeKalb NaNoWriMo group at the weekly write-ins at 3 p.m. each Sunday at Barnes and Noble in DeKalb. For more information, visit www.nanowrimo.org or contact DeKalb municipal liaisons Mary Kowalski or Kathy Kitts at nanowrimomary@gmail.com or nanowrimokathy@gmail.com.
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