NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a "contest" that starts annually on November 1st and goes through November 30th. The goal of the contest is write a 50,000 word novel in one month and the only way (for most people) to achieve that goal is to write, write more, and write even more without editing.
NaNoWriMo is free to enter, but it doesn't offer a real prize, either. If you reach the goal, you get a website banner or an image for your email .sig (a little cookie that says you succeeded or participated). Oh, wait. Let's not forget the fact that you also have a finished novel, right? That's prize enough in itself.
Allow me to point out the problem here. Re-read the last two words of paragraph one. And because it bears repeating and emphasis: "WITHOUT EDITING."
This is the NaNoWriMo Curse. You may have finished the novel, but you're not done yet! What you wrote is the sucky first draft of a novel. All first drafts must suck. It's a rule. No matter how good a writer you are, your first draft sucks. Accept it. Live it. Love it.
Now go back and fix it. It's time for draft 2. Use a spellchecker. Edit. Remove all extraneous world building, exposition, and sentence-padding words. Refine your characters. Remove the characters that don't go anywhere or do anything. Poke holes in the plot, then re-knit them together.
The Curse is rarely seen or acknowledged by the authors of NaNoWriMo. No. The authors are merely the carriers, who go about their day infecting unsuspecting agents, editors, and publishers. For many NaNoWriMo authors send their unpolished, and sucky, first draft out to dozens of people. Tons of manuscripts end up on the doorsteps of these unlucky souls, who have hired interns or assistants for the very purpose of screening the contagion. The horror of a NaNoWriMo manuscript is then inflicted upon these poor screeners. If said assistant is foolish enough to pass the manuscript up the chain, the Curse becomes a contagion similar to a pandemic.
It's no wonder industry professionals dread the end-of-year holiday season. They're not afraid of Christmas. They're terrified of catching the NaNoWriMo Curse. Few NaNoWriMo manuscripts will make it out of the slush pile without being put in file thirteen (thrown in the trash bin). Especially this soon after the contest.
If you were a NaNoWriMo participant, or if you plan to be, and you want to be a published writer, do yourself a favor. Do not perpetuate the Curse. Set your novel aside for a month. Ignore it. Work on something else. Come January 1st, make a New Year's resolution to edit it, fix it, and polish it starting that day. Then, after you've found all the problems, worked out the kinks, send it off. You'll have a much better chance of making it out of the slush pile and on to a agent's / editor's desk.
Congrats to everyone who participated. Double-congrats to those who hit the goal. You done good, folks!
