Road Trip to NaNo: Finding Your Creative Energy Generator

NaNoWriMo is an international event, and the stories being written every year reflect our hundreds of participating regions. We’re taking a Road Trip to NaNo to hear from our amazing volunteers and writers all around the world. Today, Summer, one of our Municipal Liaisons in the USA :: Texas :: Bryan-College Station region shares her secret for creating writing synergy:

Usually if I tell someone I’m from Bryan, Texas, the reaction flips between “Huh?” and “Where?” Switch it up to College Station, and some might go “Oh yeah, Texas A&M”, especially here in Texas where football is king and cities are known by their teams. In reality, the two are often mentioned together as Bryan-College Station, because they pretty much always have been. If you look at the cities on a map, their borders blend seamlessly into each other. You can literally drive down any number of roads and poof: you’ve flipped cities without even knowing it!

Historically, while the two towns often have a good-natured rivalry, they have continued to grow together, uplifting and supporting one another. I often liken our twin cities to a pair of fraternal twins: sure, they may trash talk each other now and then, but they always stand together in the face of adversity—two as one. As our police and fire departments note, ours is a community without borders.

This spirit of helping, of connectivity, of oneness regardless of our differences is something that carries through to the people who live here…

I’ve seen how that community bond affects the atmosphere of our in-person NaNoWriMo events and the wonderful effect it can have on participants. At every event you’ll see our participants helping each other, regardless of which city they come from, and regardless of their religious beliefs, race, economic status, gender, sexual orientation, political views, or NaNo “Rebel” status.

None of that matters when we get together, only that we all love to write and are in this thing together! Whether someone needs ideas, time to vent, or some encouragement, it’s available. And just like our twin cities, we welcome newcomers into the fold as if they were all old friends!

Even better, when the writing begins, there is this synergy that fills the room. It’s as if we turn into a giant creative energy generator! Almost everyone that comes to our write-ins leaves having churned out more words than they usually do on their own because of that awesome energy generated from being joined in a singular purpose. Our region enjoys an above average winning percentile, and I think it is in large part to the emotional and mental boosts our folks get from those in-person events.

Let me give you one example of the awesomeness of our Wrimo community: our final write-in is a seven-and-a-half-hour-long event to help folks cross the finish line. We’ve literally had years where half the people who came had already won. But they came out to help cheer the rest on and feed the energy machine. For seven and a half hours!! Talk about supporting your fellow writers!

Now, I have a challenge for you. If you’ve never gone to an in-person event, head to your regional forums, find the schedule, and plan to go to the next event. Most regions have events starting in October for planning, socializing, and of course awesome Kick Off Parties! If your region doesn’t have a ML, take the initiative and post in the forums to lead your own events.

Do you already go to in-person events (as either an ML or participant)? Continue to do your part in fostering that awesome NaNo community feeling: making new folks feel welcome, encouraging the discouraged, and cheering your fellow writers on!

Summer is a southern girl at heart. A Wrimo since 2006, she broke from her introverted ways to become the Bryan-College Station ML in 2010. In the real world she’s a web developer by trade, mom to three fur babies, and biggest fan of her amazingly patient and supportive sweetie. She also reads too much manga, plays way too many video games, and loves Icees and Hello Kitty.

Top photo by Flickr user eschipul.