Eva and the Killjoys
In 2003, I participated in National Novel Writer's Month,
also known as
NaNoWriMo. This annual event was invented in 1998 and has grown
in popularity since then. The premise is for each participant to
write a 50,000 word novel in the
month of November. The challenge is taken up by thousands each
year, and their efforts are shared and bolstered by an international
support network:
I learned about NanoWriMo on November 2nd, 2003. I only
decided to participate in that year's challenge after several days had
passed, meaning that I had one less week to work than everyone else: my
Week One was everyone else's Week Two. As a result of this late
start, compounded with the fact that I just couldn't resist the
temptation to take extra time and make my novel something I could be
proud of, I was unable to reach 50,000 words. I typed eight
chapters whose contents totalled 40,150 words at the sounding of the
closing bell. The novel, as such, is far from complete, but I
present here what I did manage to get done in November of 2003.