Welcome to JuNoWriMo

This is it, folks—the real deal! Our blog is finally live, thanks to Anna, who has done an amazing job. Isn’t it lovely? *swoon*

All Aboard for Adventure

If you’re new to June Novel Writing Month, don’t fret–we all are! This is a first-time adventure for all of us, and you can bet it won’t lack in the area of excitement. (If you’re curious about what JuNoWriMo entails, go here to read about it.)

We are both big fans of (and participants in) NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). We’re not trying to do it better than them. We’re not trying to get you to stop doing NaNo and join JuNoWriMo. It doesn’t work that way. We’re all on the same team here, just one other organization cheering for you as you write your book. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be writing my second book of the year in November.

Since coming up with the idea of JuNoWriMo, I’ve heard of several other programs that are doing the same thing – challenging you to write 50,000 words in June. Our take on that is—great! That just means there are more writers out there to support each other. If you’re participating in one of the other events, feel free to join ours as well. You can count your words for both. This isn’t an exclusive relationship. We’re not trying to compete with anyone, just create our own little community.

What’s in the Works

We have a lot of cool things planned for June. Regular word wars on Twitter (be sure to follow @JuNoWriMo so you can catch them). Encouraging blog posts. Highlights from some of our authors—a great opportunity to get your name out there and spread the word about your latest WIP. Soon we’ll begin accepting submissions from participants, so be thinking about that and maybe you’ll see yourself featured in an upcoming post.

Already, the site is set up so that you can start to make connections with other writers. Click on the “Sign Up” tab to set up a profile. Signing up is super easy and once you’re in, you can add friends, create groups and browse the list of other writers. We hope this will be a branching off point—that you’ll meet other writers and make friendships that can lead to editing groups, discussion groups, you name it. If you take advantage of this tool, then at the end of June maybe you’ll have more than a novel. Maybe you’ll have a group of cohorts to help with the editing process. What could be better than that?

What to Do Now

June is still a few months off, you might be thinking. What am I supposed to do until then? The next couple of months are going to race by and before you know it, JuNoWriMo will be here. In the meantime, there’s plenty you can do to prepare.

  • Start prewriting. You can’t count any of these words for June, but  you can get to know your story better – before you write it. If you don’t have an idea yet, then start thinking. If you do, it’s time to consider writing a synopsis, outlining (if you do that sort of thing), blocking out character descriptions, doing research that might come in handy later, etc. I’ll post more in depth about prewriting on a future blog post but for now, just ponder your story as much as you can. Let it simmer in your mind, coaxing all the juices out, so that when June hits, you’re dripping with creativity and ready to go.
  • Spread the word. I’ve said we want this to be a community. You are the word of mouth. You are the one that can get your friends to join the frenzy, invite your family members to dive into the adventure and convince that co-worker that this is the month to write that idea for a book he or she can’t stop talking about. The more people that join, the better the experience for all of us. After all, it’s likely that you’ll need someone to tweet at two am when your brain’s fried and you can’t figure out why your protagonist won’t behave.
  • Grab the bling. Get the gear. Here’s the fun part. Anna’s created some super cool badges to help you display the challenge on your own blog and spread the word to others. Also, check out the store tab to buy shirts, tote bags and other items. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of the robot ones.
  • Follow others. We’ve created a list of JuNoWriMo people on Twitter. Follow the list so that when June rolls around you can keep tabs on your fellow writers. If you’re interested, you can also follow Anna and me (Becca), the creators of this site. You can also check out the JuNoWriMo Facebook page.

Thanks again for stopping by. We’re glad to have you along for the ride. I can’t wait for the adventure to begin.

7 Replies to “Welcome to JuNoWriMo”

  1. Hi, I’m all signed up! This morning I got an email about Camp Nanowrimo which I hadn’t realised takes place in June as well as August. So I guess I’m signing up to both! The more the merrier, I say.

    Planning’s going well. Though the more I plan, the more is revealed and it will end up a question of what to leave in, rather than struggling for aspects of the novel to include 🙂

    Looking forward to it. Will there be anywhere to post our word counts? Presumably, we are all up for some sprints on Twitter, too, though bear in mind some are in UK, some USA but there should usually be people available for sprinting. I’m game!

    1. That’s great, Heather! We’re hoping to provide something to tally wordcounts on the site, so if/when it’s available, we’ll get it up and be sure to let everyone know. Would you be interested in helping lead sprints on Twitter? We’re looking for some participants who are excited and would like to help lead them. (If you’re interested we’ll contact you about scheduling within the next few weeks.)

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