Completing 50,000 words in 30 days is a major achievement, one that hundreds of thousands of NaNoWriMo participants have set as their November goal for the past seventeen years. While the end result will be part unreadable, part unfinished, and more than likely, error-ridden, the process often continues well beyond November. Many published books–including some very successful ones–started off as NaNoWriMo projects.
Here are four spectacular success stories:
Sara Gruen devoted two separate NaNos to writing Water for Elephants and then sold her work to Algonquin Publishers for $55,000. In 2007, the book topped the New York Times Best Seller list and hit the big screen with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson in 2011.
Erin Morgenstern began writing The Night Circus in November of 2004. That first year, Erin ended up with 50,000 words of unconnected scenes and imagery. She then spent the next two NaNos adding to the story. In 2008, she took the 100,000+ words and formed them into an actual plot. She didn’t have a workable draft until 2009. In 2011, she received a six-figure deal from Knopf Doubleday Publishers. The movie rights were snapped up by the producers of the Harry Potter films.
Rainbow Rowell had already published two novels when she sat down to write Fangirl during NaNo 2011. While writing, she moved away from her usual pattern of rewriting the previous day’s work and kept moving forward. She considers the book her “bravest writing”…New York Times agreed and designated Fangirl a 2013 Notable Children’s Book.
Hugh Howey wrote three of the novellas that later made up Wool in November 2011. When he self-published the book, he sold 1000 copies the first month. After selling tens of thousands of ebooks directly to readers, he signed a six-figure deal with a major publisher. The movie rights have been purchased by 20th Century Fox.
ONWARD ♦ AVANTI ♦ EN AVANT ♦ WEITER ♦ ADELANTE ♦ AVANTE
Earlier today, Canadian comedy pioneer Dave Broadfoot passed away at the age of ninety. An officer of the Order of Canada, Dave played to audiences that included Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and President Ronald Reagan.
Never say never.
Clara Montague didn’t want to go home to Connecticut for Christmas. Her mother Constance never seemed to like her—or her intuitive dreams about the people she loved. Clara tried to warn her mother that her father was about to have a heart attack, but Constance wouldn’t listen—and her father died.
1. Souls Entwined Book One of The Souls Trilogy was first titled Maledicta, the Latin word for Cursed. It was initially written in notebooks while I watched my three kids swim at practices and meets. Here are the original notebooks I took to the pool and penned the story in.
3. Souls Endure combines time travel from the first book, suspenseful action from the second book, and concludes the trilogy with a taste of Greek Mythology. Gods, goddesses, and monsters were carefully researched and crafted into the story. Sam faces many Greek monsters during trials to prove himself worthy. My favorite monster he encounters is Manticore. I studied this image when I wrote the Manticore scenes.
5. The inspiration behind the Trilogy is a red garnet ring my grandmother gave me.
‘Without faith, love may not exist. Without love, evil takes control.’
Anne loves to read all kinds of books so she decided to write a time traveling adventure with supernatural spirits, pirates, and a touch of sweet romance. All this and more are combined in her novels to attract teens through octogenarians. Anne lives in Indiana with her husband and three teenage children and teaches two classes of preschoolers. Her hobbies include running so she can indulge in constant cravings for ice cream, donuts, and chocolate chip cookie dough.
Once I have the initial spark of an idea, I let it percolate for several days, sometimes longer, until the right words come to mind. Those two to six words often come with no warning and provide the starting signal for a marathon of sixty to eighty thousand words. Even though it may undergo several incarnations, that working title motivates me to complete the manuscript.
These are some of my favorite books, some classics, some contemporary. They’re in no particular order.
Los Angeles homeboy Magdaleno is paroled from prison after serving time on a gun possession frameup by a rival, Rico, who takes over as gang shotcaller in Mags’s absence. Mags promises himself and his Salvadoran immigrant family a fresh start, but he can’t find either the decent job or the respect he craves from his parents and his firefighter brother, who look at him as a disappointment. Moreover, Rico, under pressure to earn money to free the Cyco Lokos’ jailed top leader and eager to exert his authority over his rival-turned-underling, isn’t about to let Mags get out of his reach. Ultimately, Mags’s desire for revenge and respect pushes him to make a decision that ensnares him in a world seeded with deceit and betrayal, where the only escape from rules that carry a heavy price for transgression is sacrifice of everything – and everyone – he loves.
The summer before senior year, Chloe starts an internship as a reporter at a local newspaper. While on assignment, she meets Kieran, a quirky aspiring actor. Chloe becomes smitten with Kieran’s charisma and his ability to soothe her soul, torn over her parents’ impending divorce. But as their bond deepens, Kieran becomes smothering and flies into terrifying rages. He confides in Chloe that he suffered a traumatic childhood, and Chloe is moved to help him. If only he could be healed, she thinks, their relationship would be perfect. But her efforts backfire, and Kieran turns violent. Chloe breaks up with him, but Kieran pursues her relentlessly to make up. Chloe must make the heartrending choice between saving herself or saving Kieran, until Kieran’s mission of remorse turns into a quest for revenge.
Joanne Guidoccio 