By Patricia Pixler
Student Reporter
A Northwestern professor did what she loved best over fall break: planning to write, and writing.
Dawn Allen, Assistant Professor of English and Composition Coordinator of the English department, spent her fall break preparing for NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo, also known as National Writing Month, is an internet-based month-long event promoting writing. Participants write throughout the month of November with the goal of 50,000 words on Nov. 30. If a participant writes 50,000 words, then they have “won” NaNoWriMo. Winners receive internet badges and discounts on writing software. Through the month, famous authors provide pep-talks in the form of a blog to the participants.
Allen has completed NaNoWriMo in the past. Two of her novels have come from the event, including one of her first ever completed stories. This year, she plans to rewrite her Master’s creative project.
“Right now, I have the ending and the first third,” Allen said. “But I lack the middle completely.”
Allen explains this is due to one of her characters becoming the focus of that work and changing her initial plan for the novel.
Her agent suggested she change this upstaging character into the main character and rewrite.
“Which is nice, because now I have a whole part of the next book with this middle I had to take out,” Allen said.
To begin NaNoWriMo, Allen always starts with printing out a calendar of the month of November. She surveys her schedule to see how many words or minutes she may be able to write each day given her responsibilities. With a goal of 50,000 words, most participants of NaNoWriMo aim for 1,677 words a day.
Each day, Allen will use her calendar to write how many words she wrote that day. To streamline her writing for November, she spent her fall break organizing her work and plotting where she wants her novel to go.
“Usually I don’t have a destination, an end, in mind when I write a novel, so this is different,” Allen said with a laugh. “Ends are usually the hardest part, but I have mine.”
Allen is enjoying the opportunity to plan. Originally her fall break had been planned for a writer’s retreat with her critique partners, but one of the partners was sent on a book tour and the retreat was postponed. Instead, the critique partners will have their own camp, or sub-forum, on the NaNoWriMo website where they will encourage one another toward their goals.
Allen encourages anyone who wants to write to complete NaNoWriMo. “It’s always great fun,” she said. “It gives discipline and forces you to take that extra time to write.”