Writers are dedicated to completing 50K words

About a week ago, Callie Lockhart stared intently at the laptop computer as she typed, adding to her novel - a fantasy adventure with a heroine based on herself - except that her main character is having "adventures I've never been in."

Callie had written 23,000 words since Nov. 1 at the time and expects to have 50,000 words completed today for NaNoWriMo - whimsical shorthand for National Novel Writing Month. By the way, she is 14.

An eighth grader at Kennedy Middle School, Callie met once a week throughout November with a group of other area writing enthusiasts participating in the annual project. She has enjoyed the chance to hang out with adults with similar interests.

"I've gotten hooked on writing, and it's peaceful and relaxing for me," Callie said. "I haven't hit a writing block yet."

A total of 119,000 people from all over the world participated in NaNoWriMo in 2008. The idea is to encourage people to finally get to the novel they've been putting off - the Great Frantic Novel, the organization calls it. Those involved who meet the 50,000-word requirement by midnight tonight can upload their work for verification and become part of the "Winners' Page."

Rachel Johnson, an Aiken Standard reporter, thought NaNoWriMo would be an interesting challenge but wanted to establish a group in Aiken to share the experience. She wrote a newspaper article about the project and quickly received 15 e-mail responses. Five participants had reached the word count of 50,000 as of last week. Callie and another writer were close.

Johnson had no expectation of meeting the goal herself, but "this experience has been fantastic," she said, "as it has challenged me to be creative and to discipline myself to write on a regular basis in my free time - as well as allowing me to forge new friendships."

Group members applauded at the last meeting when Johnson announced that Priscilla Denehy had reached the 50,000-work mark and would keep on going. Denehy's sister, Louise Hryniewich, also finished this week, as did three other participants. Callie and another writer will make today's deadline. Seven completers out of 14 "regulars" is much higher than average for a NaNoWriMo group, Johnson said.

Denehy has written a memoir that begins in the 1960s. Her sister is chronicling her experiences two decades ago when she and her husband Fred spent two years in Jamaica with the Peace Corps. They were assigned to a boys' home that included kids coming off the street.

"It's been wonderful going back through this and reliving memories," said Hryniewich. "We're all part of a bigger world, and most of us live sheltered lives. I don't intend to publish, but I want to share this with my grandchildren."

Deanne Angell also acknowledged she's writing a non-fiction work on her family tree, a hobby for over 23 years. She's exploring the lives of 668 people.

"I'm 'Heinz 57,'" Angell said with a grin. "I have a Norwegian great-grandmother and a grandfather from Maine. The rest are Canadian, except for a few Irishmen. What makes this work interesting for me is that it looks into their lives based on what was happening in the world around them, like the Civil War."

For those participants who didn't make the deadline, the NanoWriMo website offers soothing words: "You rock for even trying."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.