By Troy Lambert
In the lobby of Guru donuts, if you have not been there, there is an open space, a “stage” near Main Street that serves as a great writing nook when it is not being used for events like this one.
Grant Faulkner, the Executive Director of NaNoWriMo, stood in that space and talked to a group of writers about how to ignite your inner creativity and write a novel. He covered several topics, from perfectionism to imposter syndrome.
There were a lot of good questions, but he worked to define a writer: a person who writes.
As the founder of NaNoWriMo, he of course encouraged the group to sign up, but not just to bolster his own organization, but to inspire them to develop a writing habit.
“Everyone can learn to write a novel. You learn by doing, not by talking about it or taking classes,” he told the group.
“Your story matters,” he said. “You need to believe in your story to write it well.”
Establishing Community
So what is unique about this approach? It’s the community. This provides not only accountability, but the knowledge that we are not alone. There are tons of writers everywhere, and it’s good to know that others are doing this crazy thing too.
To add to that sense, he had everyone conduct a writing exercise, with the idea that after 30 minutes, you could walk out of the room with a genuine novel idea you can start writing right away.
It was a great start to Treefort Day #3 for me. And for the other writers in the room as well.
