The Writer - 11.2019

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2003 2004

2005

Rumors spread that Tony Danza

signed up to write. Was it the To n y

Danza? (NaNoWriMo is still seeking

confirmation.)

More importantly, the first known major

NaNoWriMo book deal occurs: Time Off

for Good Behavior by Lani Diane Rich.

“NaNoWriMo makes you work at such a

pace that you outrun that inner critic giv-

ing you crap about your craft, and you

start to just revel in the magic.”

—Lani Diane Rich

NaNoWriMo part-

ners with Room

to Read, the inter-

national children’s literacy program, rais-

ing over $7,000 – enough to establish

and outfit children’s libraries in three

Cambodian villages.

No Plot? No Problem!, the NaNoWriMo

“Bible” written by founder Chris Baty, is

published by Chronicle Books.

“All of us harbor secret hopes that a

magnificent novel will tumble out of the

sky and appear on our screens, but

almost universally, writing is hard, slow,

and totally unglamorous. So why finish

what you’ve started? Because in two

weeks, when you are done, you will be

grateful for the experience. Also, you

will have learned a lot about writing and

humanness and the inestimable value

of tilting at windmills.” —John Green

NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers

Program is born. Each year,

more than 100,000 kids and

teens participate, and

NaNoWriMo supports

approximately 10,000 class-

rooms with free novel-writing

resources, workbooks, and

curriculum aligned to the

Common Core.

NaNoWriMo trivia:

Erin Morgen-

stern’s beloved

bestselling novel

The Night Circus

begins as a sur-

prise tangent to

Morgenstern’s

2005 NaNoWriMo novel, and

then is “sprawlingly drafted”

during NaNoWriMo 2006

and 2007.

“I like to think of NaNo-ing as

excavating. You uncover dif-

ferent things at the 30K mark

than you do at 10K. Things

that felt like desperate, ran-

dom nonsense on page 72

(the abandoned broken

pocket watch, a partially

obscured tattoo, that taxider-

mied marmot on the mantel-

piece) are suddenly important

and meaningful on page 187.

Everything could hinge on

the fate of that marmot. Or

the marmot may be a red

herring. Or perhaps the mar-

mot is just a marmot. You

have to keep writing to find

out.” —Erin Morgenstern

NaNoWriMo officially

becomes a 501(c)(3)

nonprofit.

Sara Gruen’s

NaNoWriMo novel

Water for Elephants

is published.

“I can do this. WE can do this. However

far behind you are, take comfort in

knowing that there is somebody else

out there in the same boat, and look for

that next fun scene. And then the next.

And if that doesn’t work, set someone

on fire. In your book, of course.”

—Sara Gruen

2006

Tony Danza photo: DFree / Shutterstock.com