The assignment beginning today is to write a 50,000 word (175-page) novel and students are eager to get started.
It doesn't matter what they write about or what language they write in; all that matters is that writers attack the task with passion and enthusiasm. And one more thing…it has to be written in 30 days or less.
What crazy masochistic professor would assign such an abominable task in the midst of November midterms, essays, and events? None.
The idea spring from a campaign by Oakland writer Chris Baty to evoke the dormant writer inside each one of us.
The emphasis does not lie on quality, but rather on learning to get something done. "Make no mistake," said Baty. "You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes."
The idea, detailed by Baty at www.nanowrimo.org, is called National Novel Writing Month, as writers across the globe begin work on their novels at 12:00:01 a.m. on November 1 and must finish by midnight of November 30.
Since so little time is allotted for writing, canonical works of fiction are not expected to be created during this occasion, and it is hoped that by persevering in writing a piece of garbage, people will not be daunted by the task of writing a good novel in the future.
Baty stresses the "magical power of deadlines."
"Give someone a goal and a goal-minded community and miracles are bound to happen," Baty declares. "Pies will be eaten at amazing rates. Alfalfa will be harvested like never before. And novels will be written in a month."
Participation in the event has been growing each year; six novels were completed when the program began in 1999, 29 were completed in 2000, and over 700 were churned out last year out of a total of 5,000 participants. Baty is hoping for 1,000 original novels this upcoming month.
At Pomona last year, five brave students from the class of 2005 checked their novel writing fears at the computer lab door and dove into the enormous task. Less than a month later, Evan Blair, David Feinstein, Leigh Fisher, P.C. Fleming, and Stephen White were winners of the National Novel Writing Month Award, meaning they had completed a 50,000 word piece of work.
And it is doubtful that anyone would contest the fact that anybody who devotes that much time and effort to their writing deserves the label of "winner" in some sense of the word. Or maybe "loser" would be more apt. But hey, I'm having trouble writing an 800-word newspaper article. So, bravo.
Feinstein first learned of the event from his brother in San Francisco, where it is coordinated, a couple of weeks before November began.
Despite the enormity of the commitment, he told himself that he wouldn't be "in agony forever" and started the project with a nothing-ventured, nothing-gained attitude. His novel, On the Death of a Hero, dealt with the coming of age of a young pianist, and the title was aptly named after a Beethoven movement.
In the end, Feinstein deemed it better than he expected. Simply the act of getting the words on paper made the effort worthwhile. After all, said Feinstein, "The more bad writing you do, the more good writing you do."
This year, Feinstein and the other students who drudged through a month of writing are back for round two, ready to improve upon the hitches of last November's work.
Feinstein's new novel, based on a mystical bar called the "Flamingo" is more of an experimentation in true fiction, or fiction not based on aspects of one's life. "Last year I took a lot of details from my own life," said Feinstein. "This year I'm going to try to make it a little more far-reaching."
Feinstein advises all of this year's participants to treat the project as something of an experiment in styles. "Try the same story out in different styles and you can learn a lot about your writing," he said.
The time commitment is manageable, but it helps to work on a consistent basis. "I did some work every night, usually for one to two-and-a-half hours." Feinstein encourages all writing hopefuls to contact him, at David.Feinstein@pomona.edu, with any questions or concerns.
The bottom line, as the website preaches, is to give it a try without worrying about producing award-winning work. "People who never imagine themselves writing a novel, just sit down and do it," said Feinstein.
So ladies and gentlemen, start your "pen"gines and race into December with a full-length novel. Whatever you do, don't stress quality, and don't limit yourself to a single genre or language. National Novel Writing Month would never have been successful if it weren't fun.
Who knows, maybe the next Great American Novel will be completed in 30 days or less.
