November 1 marked the start of NaNoWriMo. This quirky acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month and for the uninitiated, it’s a “fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.”

I participated a few years back and have to say, it was loads of fun. Unfortunately, I’m not participating this year but have a number of friends who are and I wish them the best of luck!

There are a few new things surrounding this year’s writing marathon and one of them is Scrivener’s NaNoWriMo 2009 Special Trial Edition. Scrivener describes their product as “a word processor and project management tool created specifically for writers of long texts such as novels and research papers. It won’t try to tell you how to write – it just makes all the tools you have scattered around your desk available in one application.”

One of the great things about the NaNoWriMo trial edition is for those participants who finish their 50,000 words, they’ll get 50% off of the regular license fee for Scrivener. Even better, if you don’t finish your 50,000, you can still get 20% off for just participating.

So, have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo? If so, what were your experiences?

When I did it, the thing I found most useful was the freedom to turn off my inner editor. The rules clearly state, DO NOT GO BACK AND EDIT! And for me, that’s one of the hardest parts of writing. That urge to go back and go over it again before I can press on. Could be why it took me around two years to finish my first draft of “Shaping Fate.”

If you are participating this year, please let me know how it’s going! I’d love to get updates!