There are three things that every person (almost!) on Planet Earth thinks they can easily do if given a chance: sing, act in or direct a movie, and, yes, write. Write as in, write books, especially novels. The same kinds that appear on the bestseller lists of newspapers and book clubs for several weeks at least.
Of course, most of the unsung, un-acted, un-written billions never get to do what they think they can do.
Recently, I came across a rather odd contest for wannabe writers on a website. Running through the whole month of November, the competition is being celebrated as the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in the US. (I guess being available on the Web, it’s open to all netizens who fulfill the usual T&Cs.)
The best part of the contest – or the worst, depending on how you look at it! – is that anyone who enters AND completes at least 50,000 words of fast-paced composition is a winner. According to the site, everyone who finishes the writ-a-thon will be given a winner’s certificate and a web badge. While the prizes may not be widely recognized, the idea is to pull people by the nape of their neck and get them to write. Hopefully, a lot many Charleses around the world will get the Dickens out of their writing!
To give you some statistics, the site claims that in 2007 as many as 100,000 participated and – gulp! – as many as 15,000 crossed the finishing line of 50,000 words by the midnight deadline. Alas, only two of these 15,000 “works” were published into regular “books.”
That, however, is unlikely to stop the “participants” from pounding away furiously on the keyboard!
Check it out by clicking here.
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