The Inside Scoop on the Night of Writing Dangerously 2014

November isn’t just a month during which to write your novel… it’s also the month to get together with 225 other writers from around the globe at the largest write-in in the world. The Night of Writing Dangerously is our annual write-a-thon and Sachi, our operations intern, tells us how it went down in 2014. Won’t you join us next year?

Imagine my excitement: after working for NaNoWriMo and helping to plan the Night of Writing Dangerously, I was finally able to attend my first ever write-in.

Dressed in my noir-themed attire, I rode the elevator up to the Julia Morgan Ballroom, excited for a night of mingling, novel-inspired cocktails (Tequila Mockingbird? Yes, please), and, of course, writing. 

Our beautiful greeters awaiting participants.

The bar was buzzing with chatter and laughter as over 200 people waited for the ballroom doors to open and the writing to begin. People who had never met were behaving like old friends. It was not hard to see why— though the crowd was a mix of colors and creeds, they all had one thing in common: they were writers. Believe me, if you have never been to the Night of Writing Dangerously, you have never been among a group of people quite like this.

The Julia Morgan ballroom… and the calm before the storm.

Once those ballroom doors opened, the evening didn’t slow down. Between the candy bar, the never-ending flow of tea and coffee, the great food and even better company, the attendees still made the time to write. And write they did!

More than two hundred people in one ballroom added anywhere from 500 to 5000 words to their word counts. Over 373,000 words were written that night! So it makes sense that the chatter and the furious typing would sometimes be interrupted by a bell ringing from up in the front and cheers from the guests as someone was crowned NaNoWriMo champion for finishing their novel at the event.

Faithful Blobby guards the candy buffet with his wee arms.

There were fourteen gift baskets, two table wars, and six words sprints giving the participants so many different ways to engage with their fellow Wrimos and win some sick prizes!

Our office owl makes the trip to supervise your wise, wooly words.

If you didn’t get to go to the Night of Writing Dangerously this year, I seriously suggest that you plan to go in 2015. It is like nothing else that I have ever been a part of and I loved every second of it. You could not find a more enthusiastic and supportive group of writers if you tried and I know for myself that the Night of Writing Dangerously has become a November tradition.

Your 2014 Night of Writing Dangerously staff and volunteers, everyone! See you next year!