For writers who are looking for a challenge, National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, asks writers to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. Each year, writers around the world log over one billion words in their quest to complete a novel.
However, once NaNoWriMo is finished, what can writers do to polish up their new novels and begin to complete a finished work? National Novel Editing Month, held each March, presents a similar task to writers who are looking to make their November challenge a little more refined.
What is National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo?)
NaNoEdMo challenges writers to edit one piece of work, usually fiction, for a minimum of 50 hours each March. This piece does not have to be something written during NaNoWriMo, but it does need to be one piece that a writer can spend at least 50 hours editing and revising throughout the month of March.
NaNoEdMo is held in March because it allows writers plenty of time between the end of NaNoWriMo and the beginning of National Novel Editing Month in order to rest up, prepare for NaNoEdMo, and to finish or do further work on the piece that is going to be edited during NaNoEdMo. In addition, having NaNoEdMo in March has allowed time for the holidays to pass, which means there is more time to spend editing.
The number of hours was determined by members of the writing community. For some, 50 hours is the “minimum to substantially edit a novel of reasonable length,” according to NaNoEdMo’s frequently asked questions.
Similarly to National Novel Writing Month, NaNoEdMo is also run by a system of municipal liaisons and other community organizers who sponsor talks on editing novels, meetings to spend time editing pieces, and Thank Goodness It’s Over (TGIO) parties in late March or early April to celebrate making it through a month of editing a novel.
NaNoEdMo Rules and Guidelines
Just like NaNoWriMo, National Novel Editing Month has some rules and guidelines that writers are asked to abide by throughout the month.
First, a writer must log 50 hours of editing throughout the month of March in order to be considered as completing the challenge. “Editing” can be anything from checking grammar and spelling to substantially rewriting some or all of the piece.
In addition, there are some rules for NaNoEdMo that are different from National Novel Writing Month:
- Writers must log in at least once every seven day period (March 1-7 inclusive, March 8-15 inclusive, March 16-23 inclusive, and March 24-31 inclusive) in order to still remain in the challenge.
- Even if a writer has not completed any hours of editing during a seven day period, they still must log in and record zero hours of editing completed.
The purpose of having writers log hours spent editing throughout the month is to make sure that editing is being done throughout the month, instead of writers saving all of their hours for the end of the month and logging 50 hours of editing at the end of the month to say they’ve completed the challenge.
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National Novel Editing Month, held every March, is a challenge for writers to spend a significant amount of time to edit and revise a novel.
The challenge is designed to help writers not only dedicate themselves to the process of writing, but to also continue work on a project and attempt to create a fully finished piece of literature.
