NaNoWriMo and Research

Since NaNoWriMo is a contest to see if you can write a 50,000 word novel in a month, one of the primary rules is that you can't start writing your novel until 12AM on November 1. There are actually midnight writing parties! I won't be attending one of those. In fact, I may not start writing on November 1 at all because I have a community obligation in the morning and a family one in the afternoon and evening.

So, what are the some 30,000 people who have already committed to NaNoWriMo in 2008 doing now with all of that anticipatory energy that can not be applied to writing? Well, besides posting on the forums, they are plotting, world building, creating characters, and researching. A library that wants to coordinate a full marketing campaign with NaNoWriMo would want to start putting the pieces in place by the end of September, because lots of NaNoWriMo-ers spend some part of October researching for their novel.

The common wisdom is that a writer should not stop the flow of words in November for pesky little things like spelling, grammar, or research. It's perfectly acceptable to put a note to the author in the manuscript: more research needed here. Although, I imagine that there are a lot of writers who struggle with getting stuck on a research point. At that moment, they might use a research tool that they discovered was quick and easy during their October research -- perhaps the ask-a-librarian page of the website or an online database or encyclopedia provided by the library.

Would you like some practice answering the questions of budding novelists? Check out the Character & Plot Realism Q&A forum.     #

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