Writers gather at Mercer County Library System’s Hopewell Branch during National Novel Writing Month
When you first hear someone say “NaNoWriMo,” you might think it sounds like a word from another language, or perhaps a line spoken by Robin Williams in the old Mork and Mindy television series. Rest assured, it is neither.
November is National Novel Writers Month, more commonly known as “NaNoWriMo,” and in the month just past, a number of Hopewell-area scribes took on the challenge of producing 50,000-word novels in 30 days.
Aspiring authors must maintain a pace of at least 1,667 words a day to reach their goal. To stay motivated, some turned to the Hopewell branch of the Mercer County Library System, where “write-ins” were held every Saturday of the month. Participants went to the library to be inspired by their fellow scribblers.
According to the nanowrimo.org website, “NaNoWriMo is a fun seat-of-your pants approach to creative writing.” Every year, people from all walks of life and professions sit down at their keyboards and notepads and attempt to push themselves towards the finish line in this truly unique literary experience.
NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with a small group of participants, but has grown steadily since then. The nonprofit organization reported having 200,000 participants in 2010, writing a combined total of 2.8 million words.
Of course, writing a lot of words in a short span of time is only the beginning of the process. Once the mad typing is finished, participants may find themselves needing months or even years to edit their manuscripts into publishable works.
Still, some have gone on to be published by major houses. Novelists Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus) and Hugh Howey (Wool) both wrote their first published books as NaNoWriMo projects.
In New Jersey, there are five regions for “WriMos,” as participants sometimes call themselves. The Central New Jersey region is led by Bridgewater resident Bill Patterson and Richenda Gould of Plainsboro, two very enthusiastic writers in their own right who are known as municipal liaisons. On Nov. 9, the duo sat among their fellow writers at the library and urged them on through various activities like “write-ins” and “word wars.”
“You wouldn’t think it because we’re in a library, but this really is like a social event,” Gould said.
On this particular day, there were 10 participants, a tad higher than the seven to eight that has so far been the average. The clicking sound of furious fingers tapping away on laptops was quietly deafening as each would-be author applied generous amounts of pressure on themselves to reach their word goal.
Pennington resident Shelley Seymour, a married mother of two daughters, real estate referral agent, blogger and self-published author, has written five previous novels and got her start because of NaNoWriMo.
Seymour is originally from Canada, educated through the graduate level in English literature. Though she took creative writing classes in school, it took NaNoWriMo to get her to write novels.
Now, she said, she has her own publishing company, See More Publishing, and she’s done everything pretty much on her own.
“Even with a good [literary agent], major publishing companies only accept one out of every 1,200 to 2,000 books,” she said. “I’ve published five on my own, and I got started at an event like this.”
Sarah Sensenig, 29, is a married vocal music teacher and like Seymour, a Pennington resident. She said she has only begun writing for three months.
Sensenig described her work in progress as a dystopian science fiction romance because it’s her favorite genre to read. Her husband is a music teacher at The Pennington School, and she graduated from Rider University’s Westminster Choir College.
“My mom was a writer, she wrote a book when I was in third grade and she used to make me read all the time,” Sensenig said. “I never minded because I love to read, I did then and still do now. I started writing for fun and I got hooked.”
Sensenig had attended writing workshops at the library before, and that at least in part inspired her to go back for NaNoWriMo.
“This is a great thing, I’m glad that I’m doing it,” she said.
Hopewell Township resident Susan Swords, a married mother of one daughter and currently employed by the State of New Jersey, was taking part in her first NaNo.
She said she’s been writing creatively for four or five years now, but her first job was as a newspaper reporter.
“In my journalism days, I had to rely on facts and relaying things accurately; as a novelist I can just let it flow,” she said. “The difference is that I can embellish my work now, I’m not held to the facts.”
Swords is writing a sci-fi novel about a girl’s journey. During the course of the story she keeps getting randomly transported in time without warning, a “kind of scary but good undertaking.”
She reported writing 3,500 words during the write-in, but said looking at the blank screen and knowing she has a word quota can be intimidating.
Still, she said, “I am enjoying every bit of this; I can get something done that I never thought that I’d be able to do and the program gives you tons of support.”
Librarian Ross Holley, 22, participated in NaNo in high school and said he enjoys seeing writers come and go. Holley has been a librarian for seven years and is currently in graduate school. He also ran unsuccessfully for borough council last month.
“I’m currently in grad school, so my time is limited, but if it wasn’t, I’d be right with them. I love seeing it drive extra traffic to the library, love the write-ins; it’s always good to have something going on here,” he said.
Patterson, a married father of two boys, was the focus of the day’s main event as he was the self-imposed “Monkey in the Box.”
Putting in an eight-hour shift with one fifteen minute break per hour, Patterson accepted the task of writing 10,000 words during that time.
“I’m averaging about 1,400 per hour,” he said. “The only difference is that I’m writing, and all of my words are being projected on a big screen so that everybody can read them, hence, I am the Monkey in the Box. I am under a microscope; it’s a challenge, but fun.”
“It’s a true public forum,” Gould said. “His written words projected on the big screen for all the people to see, we hope it’s inspiring.”
I was afforded the opportunity to participate in an hourly guessing game; guess the total number of words that Patterson will write during the current hour and get to name a character in one of his novels. I came within a hundred words, but was bested by another in attendance.
According to Patterson, he has big plans for the Central New Jersey Region “WriMos.”
“I registered for my first “NaNo” in 2007. During the registration process an entire plot, seemingly all 50,000 words came to me. I thought, I can do this,” he said. “From there, I became more involved and eventually thought, why not? I became the municipal liaison for the Central Jersey Region and when I teamed up with Chen, it just got better.”
Patterson said he wants to someday have a Write All Night event, where participants get there at 6 p.m. and finish at 6 a.m.
“I want a large venue where we can have a huge group of writers take part. I want this in addition to the smaller library sessions. That’s my job, I dream big, and Chen makes it happen!”
To obtain more information about “NaNoWriMo” or the Central Jersey Region, go online to nanowrimo.org or facebook.com/cnjwrimos.
