By Dianna Sinovic
Laurel Wenson, a GLVWG board member, is a novelist who writes for adults and young adults. Her latest book is The Harbor Cove Brunch Club, the first in a new series set in the fishing town of Gloucester, Mass. She’s also the author of the YA Caldwell series and a nonfiction guidebook for children’s theater, Sets on a Shoestring. She’s leading a Write Stuff workshop this year on National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
GLVWG: Your Write Stuff workshop is on NaNoWriMo. For a writer who’s never participated in the November event, why should they consider it?
LAUREL: I believe most writers, at some point, struggle with planning, goal-setting, accountability, and self-doubt. NaNoWriMo addresses all of these areas, and provides structure, community, and encouragement not only in November, but throughout the year. While November has the “headline” event on the calendar, where one attempts to write 50,000 words in 30 days, they also provide year long opportunities for writing, planning, editing, and learning.
GLVWG: You’ve been an annual NaNo participant going on seven years. What prompted you to try it? And how did that first go-round turn out?
LAUREL: My daughter started participating in NaNo when she was ten years old, and by her third year, she had “won” the November challenge, and has never stopped. She’s 25 now, so that’s a lot of writing! Back in 2016, when I retired from full-time teaching, I was challenged by students to write a theater production manual. Because it wasn’t a novel, I chose to start my NaNo experience in April of 2017, and I successfully completed my first draft of Sets on a Shoestring: How to Build Sets and Props on a Budget during Camp NaNo.
GLVWG: What keeps you coming back each year?
LAUREL: I’ve learned my chance of completing a work is higher if I participate. I’ve joined the November challenge almost every year, and drafted all seven of my books during NaNo or Camp NaNo. The accountability and encouragement keeps me focused and motivated, and my daughter and I have an advantage of some underlying competition at home. Also, while I don’t generally participate in the forums or chat rooms, I do enjoy the live “write-ins” that local NaNo groups host throughout the month. There’s nothing like sitting in a room writing with lots of computer keys clicking away as your background noise! These groups also provide camaraderie and support, for no one understands the challenges more than another writer!
GLVWG: Do you serve in an official capacity during NaNo?
LAUREL: Not at all. In fact, there are some aspects of NaNo that I’ve rarely used–such as their forums–but when I was still tutoring online, I did encourage many of my English students to participate in the Young Writers program, and was thrilled to see several reach their goals and finish their first novels or projects. Some of them are still participating years later.
GLVWG: What do you think the biggest challenge is for a NaNo newcomer? How can they overcome it?
LAUREL: I think it’s easy to get overwhelmed the first time around, and sometimes the daily word count can be a detriment if one has fallen behind. The number one mission of NaNo is not to finish a book, but to develop regular writing habits that will keep you engaged long after any challenge ends. If the 50K words in 30 days is too formidable, then writers can set a lower goal in terms of word count. Instead of writing a novel, one can join as a “rebel” and announce projects such as editing or compiling a collection of poetry. Each participant can use the framework that Nano provides to improve their writing and reach their goals.
GLVWG: Do you have a NaNo highlight to share?
LAUREL: Obviously, my first “win” was one I’ll never forget, and every year I love printing out that winner’s certificate and watching the congratulations video from NaNo headquarters. I’d also have to include 2022 as a special memory. Earlier in the year, my husband’s cancer diagnosis changed my writing habits dramatically, and so I joined NaNo as a total “pantser,” which means writing with no outline or sense of direction, aside from some characters and a general plot idea. During that month, our family all came down with Covid. While some of the “journal” entries I included as I plodded through the month are quite entertaining to read now, I did manage to squeak by with just over 50K words of a partial first draft.
There’s still time to register for this year’s Write Stuff conference! You’ll find the details here.