I’ve been a Wrimo for almost five years, and I don’t doubt the magic that this event brings me every year. It’s amusing, really, as half the time in the year, I hardly write at all, save for blog entries. But when November comes in, I suddenly turn all writerly — everything around me is suddenly an idea for a story. I manage to bring my novel into conversations, I drag people who probably couldn’t care less as my plot doctors, and I magically find inspiration in every day which fuels me to write. In a way it makes me feel like I am following my first dream of being a writer, even if God knows how chicken I am to actually have my work up for critique.

But November has its magic, and I find myself looking forward to it every year, even if the manuscripts I produce end up gathering dust in the computer. And I have the awesome people at NaNoWriMo to thank because of that.

Last year, I decided to give back. I started earning some bucks through my blogging early 2007, which made me open up a Paypal account. November came in and I saw how pretty those donor halos looked like on the other usernames in the forums…I saw that they accept Paypal, and I thought, “Why not?” I donated my first $10 to NaNoWriMo, and I became an official Cherished Friend.

It was nice to know I helped somehow, but this year, after being privy to all the juicy NaNoWriMo ML news from Community Liaison Lindsey Grant, I saw a bit of how NaNoWriMo runs from the backend. NaNoWriMo is a free event for almost 100,000 authors worldwide…surely something this big can’t run on minimal costs. Having an IT background has introduced me to the high costs of computer hardware that is needed to run a website that is as large as NaNoWriMo (and don’t forget Script Frenzy and the Young Writers Program). And as an ML, I’ve realized how my pocket can’t really be bottomless…how much more for the people at the HQ who produces tons of goodies for FREE for every region for all Wrimos to have? Not only that, they also help out by building libraries all over the world. Surely Chris Baty can’t be that rich?

This year, I’ve decided to give more.

First off, I’m blogging like crazy on my other blog so I can donate. Not only that, but I’ve also set up a Firstgiving page and I am currently trying to raise $100 separate from the initial amount I will be donating. It’s kind of asking for pledges in a fun run, you know? (And someone has donated $10! Thank you, whoever you are!) I know it’s not much, but hey, it’s still something, and if this donation and fund raising efforts means I get to experience the magic of November for many years to come, I know it’s worth it.

I hope I can encourage you to do the same this year. Last year, a total of 5.42% of all authors donated. This year, on NaNoWriMo’s 10th birthday, regions all over the world are raising funds to get that number raised to 10%. This 10% will help keep the loans paid, and will ensure there is enough funds for NaNoWriMo to be saved in a bank and for it to go on for the years to come. This means, more writers joining, more novels being written and more years of fun.

Let’s help keep NaNoWriMo going and growing! Joining NaNoWriMo is still free, and there will never be any registration fee, but if you can find it in your hearts and pockets to donate, by all means do so! You can also set up your own Firstgiving page and raise funds as you pound your 50,000 word manuscript in November (this is free, by the way :D More details here)! If you’re absolutely broke, you can still help by simply setting your search engine to Good Search and putting “The Office of Letters and Light” on the Who do you Goodsearch for box. Easy, right?

Let’s help keep the NaNoWriMo candle lit, so it can ignite more flames of writing all over the world. (Okay I know that was lame, but you get my drift ;) )

For more details on where donations go to NaNoWriMo, you can check out this page where they give the full breakdown of the 2008 budget.