Exciting New Come Write In Partner!

I'm super excited that Barnes & Noble is partnering with NaNoWriMo this year.  I've been writing in Barnes & Noble cafes for years.  Starting in about 2005, when I was both a full-time technical writer and a freelance writer, I used to go to my local B&N to get some work done when I was tired of working at home.

I love writing in cafes, and a cafe in a bookstore seems like the absolute perfect place to write.  We've held NaNoWriMo write-ins at Starbucks as well as Tattered Cover, a small local chain of bookstores, but an early attempt to hold one at Barnes & Noble didn't go so well (although to be fair I don't know the full situation or whether that write-in had been approved by B&N).

This year it should go much better, since we'll be there as part of a collaboration between NaNoWriMo and Barnes & Noble.  When a business or organization signs up as a Come Write In partner, the region's municipal liaisons coordinate with them to get their events scheduled and on the local calendar.  So Barnes & Noble should be well aware of how write-ins work this time around, since they're dealing with the organizers directly.

I have two Barnes & Noble stores near me, one to the north and one to the south, so I've taken on coordinating directly with both of them to set up write-ins.  One has already gotten back to me and it's looking like we'll be having write-ins there Wednesday evenings in November.  Hopefully the other Barnes & Noble will pick a day other than Wednesday because I'd like to attend both of those write-ins, since I'm coordinating with both stores.

I'm also planning write-ins at a local board game cafe that is incredibly supportive of NaNoWriMo, as they have been hosting these write-ins as well as our kickoff party for years.  Those write-ins will be on Sundays throughout November.  So as you can imagine, between the two B&N write-ins and the board game cafe one every week, my social calendar in November is already pretty full.

Hard to believe November is only two weeks away now!

Messages from an ML: How to Get Involved with Your Local NaNoWriMo Region

My last post talked quite a bit about NaNoWriMo regions and local events.  I can't tell you how many times I've talked to a newcomer to my events, though, and discovered that they've known about the local events for some time, just never had worked up the courage to come.

I always encourage wrimos to come to the local write-ins if they can.  Staying motivated all by yourself for an entire month can be difficult, but you don't have to do it all alone.  Write-ins help you get your word counts, maintain the daily habit, and maintain your forward momentum.

Writers can be an awkward bunch, though; a single write-in will tell you that much.  When you're an introvert, going to a write-in to write with strangers can be intimidating.

If you feel hesitant to join your local NaNoWriMo community, here are a few tips for breaking the ice and putting yourself out there.

• Check out the region online first.  Even though you're looking for a local community, that local community has an online presence, too.  Every region at minimum has a regional forum, typically with information from MLs about local events, and threads from other local wrimos about everything from setting up write-ins to various aspects of writing.  Your region may also have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Discord.
• Say hi!  Lurking is great for getting comfortable, but at some point, you just gotta say hi.  Introduce yourself, post any questions you have about how the local stuff works, or reach out and make some new writing buddies.
• Find a write-in where you can get your feet wet.  Check out the write-ins in your area.  In addition to the forum, which is often used for arranging write-ins, there's a region calendar.  Our write-in likes to specify what kind of event each write-in is: Is it social?  Is it quiet and focused?  Will there be word sprints?  You can also ask any friends you've made in the forum what write-ins they'll be going to, so you can meet them in person (and have the security of knowing someone there).
• Go to the write-in.  Once you find a write-in you think would be a good fit for your first time, take the leap and go!  It may seem intimidating your first time, but I promise, we're all just like you (awkward writer types) and you'll fit in nicely.
• Repeat as necessary.  If you have a good experience at your first write-in, why not try another?  Many repeat weekly, so you can go to the same one again next week, or try a different one.  I do find that the atmosphere can vary quite a bit between write-ins, so don't worry if you find that some aren't to your liking.  Hopefully you will have an active region with many to choose from!
• Create your own!  You knew I was coming to this, right?  If you don't find a write-in that works for you, or you go to a few and don't love them, don't be afraid to start your own!  Check the regional forum for your ML's guidelines on creating a write-in, but for the most part, you just have to specify day, time, place, how long you'll be there, and what kind of a write-in it is (quiet, focused, social, etc.).  It's also a good idea to talk to the business where you want to hold it first to make sure they're okay with it, especially if you anticipate more than a handful of people to show up.

I genuinely hope you'll try it, but at the very least, check your region's local forum and see if there's anything (or anyone) to interest you.  The community part of NaNoWriMo is half the fun of participating!

Messages from an ML: What's All This Local Region Stuff, Anyway?

I've mentioned before that I'm a municipal liaison, an ML, for NaNoWriMo's Denver region.

Since I haven't explained it recently (even though I've been talking about it a lot), NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it's a self-challenge to write a 50,000-word novel (or 50,000 words of a novel) in the month of November.  There are rules, but that's the basics of it, and some of us (ahem) break some of those rules anyway.

NaNoWriMo is primarily an online thing.  There's a huge website, and discussion forums, and social media presence, especially on Twitter and Discord.  And it's actually international, not just national, so once November starts, there will be writers participating right alongside you (virtually) all over the world.

While the online and international parts of NaNoWriMo are phenomenal, participants are also divided up into regions.  You can join your local region or not; it's up to you.  But if you decide to participate in your region, I highly recommend checking out the local events calendar.  Local events are one of the best things about NaNoWriMo for me.

For instance, I live in the Denver Metro area, and I've been participating in NaNoWriMo since 2006.  Denver is a very active region, so your region may or may not look like this, but in a normal year we have events scheduled for almost every day of November.  Most of the events are what we call "write-ins," which is where wrimos (what we call participants) get together someplace and just write together.  Sometimes it's quiet writing, sometimes social writing, and sometimes it's a mix with timed (and often gently competitive) word sprints.  They're held in coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, libraries, and bookstores all over town, wherever the person setting up the event decides to have it - usually a favorite local haunt.

We also always have a kickoff party.  Other regions may differ, but we hold our kickoff parties on Halloween night, so that everyone can start writing at midnight.  It means that people who have to work the next day tend not to come, but even so, we typically get 60 to 70 people at the kickoff party.  Fortunately we have the generous support of a local coffee shop, Enchanted Grounds, and for the last handful of years or so they have hosted both our kickoff parties and a weekly write-in.

NaNoWriMo also has local Come Write In partners, usually libraries or bookstores that decide they want to host events in November, and they reach out to NaNoWriMo directly about scheduling write-ins (rather than a wrimo setting up the write-ins there).  Some Come Write In partners host other events than write-ins, too, such as workshops, lectures, and author events.

NaNoWriMo has been a little different the last couple years, of course, as the pandemic forced NaNoWriMo to go virtual along with everything else in the world.  But we're looking forward to getting back to in-person events this year, even though we'll likely still be offering a variety of virtual events for those who aren't yet comfortable with the in-person stuff again.

Next time you're on the NaNoWriMo site, check out your local region's page.  There's a lot going on in each region, perhaps more than you realize!  Next I'll talk about how to break the ice and get involved in your region's local events.