I used to hate November. It’s a dismal month, what with the change of seasons, the damp air and the faint whiff of not-yet-Christmas. If you’re a fan of Christmas November sucks because it’s the drizzly No Man’s land before you can start having your festive fun, and if you hate Christmas it’s an annoying month because carols are played in shops, the supermarkets are full of holiday food and twinkling light displays of varying aesthetic wonder go up around town.

All this must explain why so many new creative challenges are set in November. Have you heard of Movember? It’s the reason all your male friends are cultivating bumfluff on their upper lips. And what about NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and VloMo 09 (Videoblogging Month)?

The original (and best, in my opinion) is still NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Founded by Chris Baty in San Francisco ten years ago, NaNoWriMo throws down the gauntlet for all wannabe novelists by making them just get on with it, setting a target of 50,000 words over 30 days and accepting no excuses.

I first took part in NaNoWriMo in 2008 and, after taking an ill advised week long break from my novel in the middle of the month, failed to catch up and finished on 33,685 words. I remember feeling annoyed for a few minutes when I punched that number in to my word count on the site before realising that was 33,685 words more than I would have written if I hadn’t been taking part. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t reached the target because I felt I’d got so much out of it, but I was determined to try again this year and work harder to reach the 50,000 mark.

NaNoWriMo is about getting people to tell stories, free themselves up from the idea that they’ll write a novel “some day” and getting them to do it now, and offering a support network throughout the crazy month. As the challenge has grown and spread out across the world, city-specific groups have sprung up, and it was only this year I realised a proper NaNoLondon group existed.

I contacted some #NaNoLondon novelists via Twitter to interview them on their experiences so far. Now, if only I could figure out a way to include blogging in my own wordcount…

QYPE: Why are you taking part this year?

Frank Brinkley: I heard about NaNo just three days before November. I am currently running a writing group, populated by very intelligent, very creative types where everything is slow going and measured and carefully put together, and I thought Nano might be a great way of breaking down some of those creative barriers and just writing on the fly.

Viviane Schwarz: I’m taking part again because last year I did really badly and still got some good things out of it. – I ended up with half a good novel instead of a whole awful one, but then I had trouble finishing it. This year I want to see what happens if I really go for it and write something I am not precious about, something I would not normally want to write.

QYPE: What are you hoping to get from the experience?

Frank Brinkley: Many things. To think I might have a first draft of a story by the end of the month is an exciting thought. I’m also enjoying the social aspect to Nano, being able to meet people with at least one thing in common, or a shared interest. Finally I am hoping that this new fashion in which I approach my time might continue throughout the year: writing doesn’t need to take forever, and sometimes it’s best to pour out thoughts thick and fast and polish them later.

Viviane Schwarz: I’m hoping to train myself to write every day, without all the faff of setting up and making tea and thinking and selecting music and making more tea and going for a walk and then forgetting what I was going to write in the first place that I normally do – and to get over the worry that what I’m writing isn’t worthwhile. I’m hoping to learn my own rhythm as a writer – there seem to be two days of writing rambling nonsense followed by one of writing good stuff, but actually I’m very interested to see if what I’m thinking of as good will in the end really be the most useful material. I have a feeling that there might be some use to the writing that I’d normally throw out.

QYPE: How is it going so far?

Frank Brinkley: It’s 11 days in, and I’m 300 words shy of the half way mark, 25,000. So I’m pleased. By and large it’s been very very enjoyable, and I’ve really liked that being home alone no longer means I’m lonely, but means I have some time to write. It’s transformed that down time for me. As for the actual writing, I had a bit of a dip as week 2 began on Sunday, but yesterday’s (tuesday 10th) write-in was fantastic, and got me excited about my story and characters again.

Viviane Schwarz: Hard to tell. It’s probably going well. I’m not too far behind and every so often I write something I really enjoy. I’m not writing it in order, so the story is growing in an odd way. I hope the plot will emerge eventually, but I’m letting it do that by itself (another thing I’d never normally do).

QYPE: Do you think you’ll “win”?

Frank Brinkley: Yes! Hope so. Hope I finish the story too.

Viviane Schwarz: I sure hope so. If nothing dramatic happens, I should manage it – I’ve been working and traveling in the first week and managed to keep up, so I’m confident.

QYPE: Have you got any tips for keeping up with the daily wordcount?

Frank Brinkley: It’s true what they say on the website – start fast, get down as much as possible in week one, because feeling like you’re ahead is a massive psychological boost. But also, it is so important to have some kind of plot. If you don’t know what’s next, it’s hard to plan ahead or get some sense of where you’re going, and writing with no goal in mind is very hard. Then write-ins are great for hitting targets, because the time is so structured, and usually internet free!

Viviane Schwarz: I’ve had a day where I was lagging behind so much that the whole thing started to seem overwhelming – I got back on track by writing an un-sent letter from one character to another, an awful ramble, but it was really good to see how easy it can be to write a couple of thousand words in one go.

QYPE: What has been the most unexpected thing about NaNo so far?

Frank Brinkley: Hmmm, tough question. I suppose how much I’m just loving it. How much it’s opened my eyes to stop wimping out from my writing and…well, it’s come at a time when I’ve been needing to change bad habits and get out more and it seems to help with that.

Viviane Schwarz: The most surprising thing so far was that for the first time I managed to write personal things without being at all bitter. I normally write happy things for small children, and when I write longer texts for myself all the anger and sadness I’m not normally allowed creep in and the whole thing becomes rather nasty. I always worry that I’ll write awful things about real people by accident and it will be unpublishable (because I wouldn’t want to get in trouble with them). But writing at this speed, without thinking about it much beforehand, I don’t have time to get worked up about what I feel. It’s coming out funny and honest rather than obsessive. I based one of the characters on myself and it’s surprising what she’s like – not as nice as I thought in some ways, not as bad as I thought in others. Sometimes when I finished writing for the day I realise I have mellowed towards people who irritated the heck out of me, just because I wrote about it and understood my own part in it better.

The other unexpected thing is that I suddenly remember things about school, properly – I disliked it so much that my memories are normally very hazy, but I already remembered several good things – the library, playing cards in the cafeteria… just small stuff, but I’m reclaiming parts of my life.

QYPE: Can you name any good cafes / restaurants / places to write in London?

Frank Brinkley: I really enjoyed the Royal Festival Hall, because there are so many people to watch, and it has free wifi and plug sockets and booze and all. But I think it doesn’t matter so much about places as much as just feeling comfortable and ready to write wherever. Some lunchtimes I write 500 words or so at my desk. Other times I’ll slip out to a coffee shop and write something by hand. But just feeling comfortable is the most important. That said, there’s no point building up a perfect writing ‘nest’ that then you never use – be flexible too!

Viviane Schwarz: I like to work in Cafe Nero when I feel a bit stuck, simply because they are all the same, so I can just get a lemon and poppy seed muffin and a cappuchino and get going. I trained myself over the years to react to that set-up with instant WORK. I do prefer going to nicer cafes though like Cafe Provencal.

QYPE: Do you have any plans for your novel after the month has ended?

Frank Brinkley: I think I’ll wait and see. I’d love to be able to tinker with it and turn it into something I might show friends and family. But I work in publishing and know how high the standards are and certainly don’t consider my own ideas or material up to scratch. Defeatist? Or just being realistic?

Viviane Schwarz: No. It would be nice if it were useful in some way, but really it’s a writing exercise for me this year.

QYPE: Will you be taking part in NaNoWriMo 2010?

Frank Brinkley: Perhaps. The story I’m writing is one of fifteen, so I have plenty of plot left!

Viviane Schwarz: Definitely.

Check out Part 2 of this blog post on Monday when I interview two more NaNovelists, Kat Arney and MasonicBoom…

Image courtesy of themarkpike’s Flickr stream.