Announcing the Biff Bam Pop! Podcast Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Toronto, Ontario/Marlton, New Jersey - Pop culture website Biff Bam Pop! today announces the launch of the Biff Bam Pop! Podcast Network, an umbrella to house and promote a host of podcasts featuring various members of the BBP staff. Please meet us after the jump for the details.

“For the past two years here at Biff Bam Pop!, we've featured The GAR! Podcast, the work of myself, and my partner Ray Cornwall,” says Biff Bam Pop! Senior Editor and Writer Glenn Walker. “Recently it occurred to us here onsite that I was not the only one who had a hand in the world of podcasting. We should organize the podcasts of our writers under one umbrella, adding to each show's promotional power for the betterment of everyone. Each time a new episode goes live, it would be featured here onsite. Thus was born the Biff Bam Pop! Podcast Network.”

The currently running podcasts that will now fall under the Biff Bam Pop! Podcast Network umbrella include:

The Audacious Eleven Podcast featuring Wendy Sheridan, Mary McGinley, Donna Juzva, and Biff Bam Pop's own, SJWG member Robin Renee. The show is described as a reality podcast that ventures from Pagan spirituality and life empowerment to technology, entrepreneurship, love, sex, and fandom.

The Biff Bam Popcast is our own video roundtable recorded from Google Hangouts that features BBP staffers and occasional guests talking about the pop culture topics of the day in film, television, comics, gaming, books, and music.

The GAR! Podcast is the Glenn Walker and Ray Cornwall weekly podcast where they talk unrehearsed about whatever happens to come to mind. It’s an audio-zine for your mind, a nerd exploration of a nerd world, coming to you from across the vastness of suburban New Jersey via Skype.

Gobbledygeek features hosts Paul Smith and AJ Wiley and focuses on a variety of entertainment subjects, with our hosts and special guests frequently discussing films, comics, and television. BBP staffers K. Dale Koontz and Ensley F. Guffey are frequent guests.

The Make Mine Magic Podcast features Jenn Walker and her husband SJWG member Glenn Walker talking about Disney, parks, movies, travel advice, characters, Marvel, Star Wars, Studio Ghibli, etc., if it’s Disney, it’s fair game.

The Official Popshifter Podcast, features Popshifter managing editor Less Lee Moore and featured contributor Jeffery X Martin shifting the tone of pop culture criticism and tackling the fields of film, music, and rest of the genre world.

Along with these shows, beginning on October 15th, we will launch the monthly Biff Bam Podcast. The inaugural edition will feature interviews with Kane Hodder and Brandi Cyrus, the stars of the new horror film Old 37, along with a roundtable discussion on the best movies to watch for Halloween, and contributions from various BBP staff writers.

“We’re very excited to be bringing Biff Bam Pop! to the podcasting world,” says Editor-In-Chief Andy Burns. “After seven years of writing on the web, we’re now going to entice your ears with our brand of pop culture talk.”

For more details on the Biff Bam Pop! Podcast Network, and the Biff Bam Podcast, contact Andy Burns or Glenn Walker.

Established in 2008 in Toronto, Canada, Biff Bam Pop is a pop culture website that features writers from across North America. Find us online at www.biffbampop.com, facebook.com/bbpcanada and via Twitter @biffbampop.

The Biff Bam Pop! website features the work of SJWG members Marie Gilbert, James Knipp, Loretta Sisco, Robin Renee, Sarah Hawkins-Miduski, Glenn Walker, and soon, Mieke Zamora-Mackay.

Biff Bam Pop! at the SJWG

By Glenn Walker

The internet is a funny thing. The internet is bringing our world closer together, making communication easier. You can get to know people, build friendships and relationships, having never met the people involved. I have known Andy Burns for six years, talk to him nearly every day, consider him one of my best friends - all thanks to the internet - but never met him face to face until just this past week.

Even though Andy lives and works in Toronto, he's well known to the members of the South Jersey Writers Group, not just through me, but seeing as a half-dozen of our members write for his pop culture website Biff Bam Pop!, Andy has achieved something of rock star status among our little group.

As I said, we had never met until last week. When I picked him up at the airport, he got in the car and we shook hands, then kinda laughed and rolled our eyes. This was not a first meeting or an introduction. It wasn't even a blind date. Andy and I have known each other for years. We were soon talking as if we had last talked hours before, which though electronically, we had. He settled into our home for a week as if he was family, more than a friend or colleague.

When he attended the May general meeting of the SJWG as my guest, he felt like family with our little group as well, and what was even cooler, the friendships were bound even closer when we went out to a bar later that night. As the days went by, Marie Gilbert took Andy on a ghost hunt, as well as a tour of historic Philadelphia. With Loretta Sisco and her husband we attended a viewing of the new Poltergeist remake. French fry fanatic me took him to all the cool places to eat like the British Chip Shop for the best fries, got him a real cheesesteak, and all of us got together for a breakfast at Collingswood's Pop Shop.

By the time we parted after that last breakfast, we were all family, despite having never met before last week. So the internet is not such a bad thing, it builds friendships and connections not just here in South Jersey, but also as far away as the mean streets of Toronto.

Andy Burns is a verified expert of the television series "Twin Peaks" as evidenced in his book Wrapped in Plastic. Twin Peaks. His pop culture website Biff Bam Pop! can be found here, you can Follow him on Twitter here, and Like the site on Facebook here.

Among the South Jersey Writers who are also members of Biff Bam Pop! East are senior writer Marie Gilbert, whose work includes reviews of "The Walking Dead," "Penny Dreadful," "American Horror Story," and "Orphan Black" among others; Loretta Sisco, who dazzles us with tales of horrors and serial killers; Robin Renee, our mistress of music; Jim Knipp, our official "Game of Thrones" reviewer; and Sarah Hawkins Miduski, who will be taking on the upcoming "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" TV series. And then there's that Glenn Walker guy, associate editor and contributing writer at Biff Bam Pop!. He reviews "The Flash," "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and "Avengers Assemble."

We loved hosting Andy, and we're hoping to get together again in person real soon, perhaps a trip to Canada next. Until then, thank you, internet, and thank you, Andy!

SJWG March Blogfest

Every third Sunday of the month the South Jersey Writers' Group gets together for a work session dedicated to the art of blogging. If you noticed in the SJWG Social Media Database (seen here and here) many of its members are also bloggers. This month we decided to put our money where our mouths are, so to speak, and promote here, on the SJWG Blog, what we accomplished at this monthly work session.

Loretta Sisco posted this entry about her 'pocket pets' to her blog, while working hard on her next article at Biff Bam Pop! about this past weekend's Monster Mania convention in Cherry Hill NJ. You can check that out later this week here and here.

Kahlil working hard at this week's Blogfest

Robin Renee wrote this terrific post for her blog about working and living in mixed media. You can read it here.

Rich Voza, besides leading an energetic discussion about teaching and movies with Glenn Walker, produced a blog post consisting of more of his famous one-minute book reviews. You can see it here.

Kahlil Weston of Mad Writer Publishing worked on his upcoming book on bullying, as well as edits for a forthcoming book by another of his authors.

Glenn Walker wrote and posted an entry for each of his three blogs. He reviewed Crunchy Cookie Chips for French Fry Diary, the new phase of the Simpsons Tapped Out game for the Non-Gamer's Gamer's Blog, and the Danish giant monster movie classic Reptilicus for Welcome to Hell. Click the links to check them out.

And that's just some of the creative magic that happened at this month's Blogfest work session…

South Jersey Writers Database, part 2

Folks are always asking for a central source, a database of where to find the work and social media of the members of the South Jersey Writers' Group - so here you go. Here is the second part (you can see the first part here), and it's by no means complete. We'll be adding and updating as we go along, but this is certainly a good start.

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Nanci Rainey

Website: http://nancirainey.tateauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nanci.rainey

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillysTribute

Robin Renee

Website: http://www.robinrenee.com

Blog: https://dreambetween.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobinReneeFan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spiritrockssexy

Podcast: Audacious Eleven: http://a11.moon-and-star.com/

Randy Ribay

Website: http://www.randyribay.com

Blog: https://randyribay.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/randyribay

Ewart Rouse

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com 

Michael Smolensky

Website: http://www.smolenskylaw.com/

Blog: http://gavelreport.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/smolenskylaw

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/smolenskylaw/

Kevin Stephany

Blog: https://kevinstephany.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevsteph0419 

L.A. Strucke

Website: http://www.lastrucke.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lastrucke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LAStrucke

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/

Joanna Swank

Website: http://askmeaboutmybooks.webs.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joanna.swank

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CanBeANovelist

Loretta Swearingen Sisco

Website/Blog: http://www.lorettasisco.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loretta.swearingen.sisco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LorettaSisco

Loretta at Biff Bam Pop!: http://biffbampop.com/author/lorettals/

Vince Sparks
Website/Blog: http://www.sparksignites.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vincesparks

Shelley Szajner

Blog/Website: http://www.shelleyszajner.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writershelleybax

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShelleySzajner

Rich Voza

Blog: http://brainsnorts.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/brainsnorts

Glenn Walker

Website: http://www.glennewalker.com

Blogs: Welcome to Hell: http://www.monsura.blogspot.com

            French Fry Diary: http://www.frenchfrydiary.blogspot.com

            The Non-Gamer's Gamer's Blog: http://www.nongamersgamersblog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monsura

Twitter: https://twitter.com/monsura   

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/monsura 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/glenn1400/

Podcasts: The GAR! Podcast: http://www.garpodcast.com

                The Make Mine Magic Podcast: http://www.makeminemagicpodcast.com

Glenn at Biff Bam Pop!: http://biffbampop.com/category/glenn-walker/       

Jessica Walsh-Jadach

Blog: http://crackingnut.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.walshjadach

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jessica_A_Walsh

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Jessica_A_Walsh/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/

Kahlil Weston

Website: http://www.madwriterpublishing.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madwriterspublishing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wesdaddymack5

Janice Wilson

Website/Blog: http://www.soothingprose.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janice.wilson.988

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Soothingprose

Mieke Zamora-Mackay

Website/Blog: The Author in Training: http://www.miekezmackay.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MZMackay

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/mzmackay/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com 

We hope you'll check out these links and continue reading our blog here.  See you next time! 

SJWG Writer of the Year 2014

Just a quick note to honor friend, writer, and fellow SJWG member Marie Gilbert who was recently voted this year's Writer of the Year.

Marie's work can be found at Gilbert Curiosities, Biff Bam Pop!, Go Jane News, and here on this blog, among many other places online. Her first novel Roof Oasis can be found here. Rock on, Marie! Thank you for everything you do!

Roof Oasis by Marie Gilbert

Marie Gilbert is one of the most beloved members of the South Jersey Writers' Group. She has been instrumental in the birth and maintenance of this blog, as well as being one of our biggest boosters and sellers of the SJWG anthology Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey, in which her craft is also featured.

You've also seen her work at Biff Bam Pop! every week. There the Steampunk Granny regularly reviews cool stuff like episode by episode recaps of "The Walking Dead," "Bates Motel," "True Blood," and "Orphan Black" among others.

Marie also writes for Go Jane News, her interviews and ghost investigations are top notch, and has aided me in several blog tours. Her enthusiasm is contagious and she is an inspiration to us all. Marie rocks, and we love her, but now we have an extra special reason to be proud of our Steampunk Granny - she's now a published novelist.

Let me tell you all about Roof Oasis. Marie Gilbert's first novel is the tale of twins Michael and Lucy caught in a world devastated by bio-warfare that has inadvertently created zombies. As the hordes of the seemingly undead close in, the twins find that their only salvation may lie within a Victorian mirror hidden in the attic of their family home. You can read more about the novel here.

Roof Oasis: An Apocalyptic Tale (Volume 1), by Marie Gilbert, is available as a paperback from Amazon here and soon on Kindle. The cover design and illustration is by fellow SJWG member Shelley Szajner. Details about the upcoming book release party in June can be found here. Check out this great new novel by this terrific author.

AAUW Book and Author Champagne Brunch

Marie Gilbert with the SJWG anthology

By Marie Gilbert

Four of the writers featured in South Jersey Writers' Group's anthology Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey, were invited to speak at the Medford Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Champagne Brunch held at the beautiful Medford Leas Community Center on Route 70 in Medford.

This event was to help benefit AAUW’s 2014 Scholarship Fund for women returning to college. The four SJWG writers and guests of the event were Dawn Byrne, Joanne Costantino, Jennifer M. Eaton, and Marie Gilbert, who were warmly greeted by everyone there at the Champagne Brunch.

The AAUW’s goals are to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. The President of the Medford Branch of AAUW is Mary Ann Brookes and was helped in preparing for the brunch by Elsie Behmer, Nancy Sauer, Lynne Poag, Cidnie Richards, Dian Hattrick, Gladys Lowden-Metz, Linda Chamberlain, Mary Strickler, and Rita Manno.

Rita Manno and Elsie Behmer

Rita Manno, who has promoted our group since our book’s launch, interviewed the writers a few weeks ago and her interview of us was featured in the Burlington County Times and the Central Record. Dawn and I set up the book table as soon as we arrived, which gave us time to chat with the lovely members of AAUW.

After brunch, Joanne Costantino stood at the podium to give the AAUW members a little background history of the South Jersey Writers’ Group and what the group’s goals are and where we’re heading. Joanne spoke about her writing and her inspirations for her stories. Before introducing Dawn to the members, Joanne read one of her poems called “A Flowing: An Ode to a Kidney Stone” to the rousing applause of the assembly.

Dawn Byrne

Dawn Byrne then stood at the podium to talk about her published works with Chicken Soup for the Soul, and about her facilitating the Critiquing Program with fellow SJWG member Kevin Stephany. Dawn explained to the AAUW members the importance of a critique group and how she and Kevin go about orchestrating this program for our group. Dawn also detailed the work she and Marie do with marketing and promoting the group and the anthology.

Marie Gilbert was up next and explained where she gets her inspiration for her horror and ghost stories, using her ghost hunting investigations as an example. Marie also talked about writing for the Pop Culture website Biff Bam Pop!, and Go Jane News and ended with her blog stories on family and especially the weekly Life with Fred & Lucy posts. Marie was asked to read one of her stories from Tall Tales and Short Stories.

Elsie Behmer and Mary Ann Brookes

Jennifer M. Eaton was last up at the podium and spoke about her books, her experience in getting her books published, and the pros and cons for a writer in today’s publishing world. The members of the audience asked Jennifer questions on publishing, agents and her newest books, The First Day of the New Tomorrow and Paper Wishes. The floor was then opened for people to ask questions from all four writers.

It was an enjoyable day spent with the lovely members of the AAUW and it was for a great cause. Check out the Medford Branch of the AAUW or their main national website to see all the good work they’re involved in.

We sold a lot of our books and we’re hoping to be invited back again when our group’s next two anthologies are published. Thank you to everyone with the Medford Branch of the AAUW responsible for this wonderful event.

The SJWG's Steampunk Granny

Presenting the next in a series spotlighting various members of the South Jersey Writers' Group - today's guest blog is by Marie Gilbert.

When Glenn Walker, AKA the Patron Saint of Blogging, asked me to be a guest on the SJWG blog, I said sure, I would love to talk about my writing. I love being part of this awesome group of talented people and I’ve learned so much since joining. But, saying yes to the post was the easy part, explaining why I like to write horror stories; not so much. The advice most often given to writers is to write what you know. Good advice, but what if your writing takes you down a path that is often scary?

Write what you know! I write about my family, ghosts, zombies, and aliens. Have I ever met an alien? Well… there are a few members of my family that I do wonder about, but basically, I research the information done by NASA and astro-biologists who study life forms that can exist in extreme conditions here on earth. I then try to imagine what life forms might be found on other planets. Using this method, I come up with some pretty neat aliens and landscapes.

Have I ever met a zombie? No, but I do have teenage grandchildren, nieces and nephews who seem to go brain dead as soon as they sit in front of their computers. I know it’s not the same, but when you’ve tried on multiple times to get someone’s attention and they don’t see or hear you because they’re playing Assassin's Creed; they’re zombies.

All kidding aside, I’ve done plenty of research on the subject and feel that a zombie apocalypse, complete with pesky little flesh eaters, is possible. In my stories this apocalypse happens because of mutating prions, genetic and biological warfare, and my favorite; genetically modified foods.

When it comes to ghost stories, I’m definitely writing about something I know. I’ve been seeing the dearly, and not so dearly, departed since early childhood. Inheriting this trait from my grandmother and mother, I have a healthy supply of spooky material for my stories. I plan to write a story on a particularly nasty spirit that I had encountered on one of my teams ghost hunting investigations. Right now, I’m doing the research on the series of events that led to a child’s death by said nasty spirit.

Not all my stories are about the paranormal. I also write about my family. In a large Italian family, there is always something going on that I can write about on my blog. I love writing about my family and their adventures, about going to steampunk events, and ghost hunting investigations.

I’ve been posting a weekly episode called "Life with Fred & Lucy." These episodes, which are subtitled "Surviving your Gene Pool" tells about my siblings and me growing up with two dysfunctional parents and working in the family business that was located in South Philadelphia. Wait… maybe this is a paranormal story.

When not writing about ghost, zombies and aliens, or doing interviews on published authors, film directors, actors and producers, I enjoy writing for Biff Bam Pop!, which is a pop culture website and writing a monthly post for Janet Garraty’s online magazine, Go Jane News.

So, now you know what I write about, but I haven’t told you why I write. I can’t help it! This need to tell a story is hardwired into me; into all of us. I love listening to stories and I love telling them. Stories for me, is a means of transporting history, hopes and dreams. Stories are, in essence, a time machine for humanity, which stretches from the past, present, future and beyond and starts with “Once upon a time.”

About today's guest-blogger:

Marie Gilbert is a multi-dimensional super-heroine with more adventures than a comic book museum, stuck in a grandmother’s body. Retired from the Academy of Natural Sciences, Marie finally has time for her first love; writing. She writes primarily paranormal and science fiction stories. Her popular blog, Gilbert Curiosities, chronicles her adventures with her nine grandchildren, her ghost hunting investigations and her love of steampunk and zombies. Marie is also a staff writer for Biff Bam Pop! and a contributing writer for Go Jane News.

Marie served as co-editor of the SJWG short story anthology, Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey. Marie and Dawn Byrne, fellow member of the South Jersey Writers' Group are known as Super G & Super D, and you will find them at many of the coffee shops and bookstores around New Jersey promoting the anthology for the group. Marie’s stories “Night of the Attack” and “Where Are You Zeppie” appeared in the collection.

Why Do the NaNoWriMo?

The following was originally written for the Fear of Writing website back in 2010, and still rings true today. Now that the South Jersey Writers' Group is in the midst of NaNoWriMo, I think this might be a good time to unearth this nugget. Notably, since its writing, I am now on my eleventh year of NaNo-ing, and have finished three times. Enjoy, and be sure to check out FoW for great writing resources and inspiration.

When I was asked to contribute a guest blog about the NaNoWriMo, I jumped right in, just like the NaNoWriMo, and churned one out - and much like the publishing industry itself, I was told it wasn't a good fit. Good friend and the queen of Fear of Writing Milli Thornton quickly rattled off a few more appropriate topics. Number one was not only why do the NaNoWriMo, but why, like me, why do it eight times in a row.

Well, the answer of course is easy. I'm a masochist. I obviously must be. Why else would I subject myself to this process every November? And why would I keep coming back? Over and beyond the concept that I think all writers are masochists, there is another reason, a much more palatable one - to write.

When you become entrenched in the writing community, you quickly learn there are two kinds of writers. There are writers who work and work and are always on one project or another, and are always in the midst of the words. They are doing it, and if they are lucky, and they have the talent - these are the ones who make it.

The other kind of writer is the talker. Oh yeah, they talk a good game, they know their stuff, but you never really see them at work. Sure, maybe they have one or two finished or unfinished novels in their desk drawer or on disc that have never and/or will never be accepted, or revised, or edited. They're not writers, at least not anymore, they just talk about it.

November's National Novel Writing Month is a dividing line, and a barbed wire barrier. It firstly keeps the workers from becoming talkers, and second, it gives the talkers a chance to redeem themselves and become workers again. The goal, bottom line, of the NaNoWriMo is to make you write. Butt in seat, fingers on keyboard, words on page. Do it.

Now a lot of the workers also have their share of pitfalls in their busy writing lives. Sometimes they get bogged down in one project, so intent on that little world or universe you lose objectivity as its creator. Fresh winds and new ideas not only rejuvenate but give new insight to old ideas. The NaNoWriMo is a fresh wind, in that you must create a whole new novel from scratch. November is one big walk in the park or long cold shower - you know, those getaways that give you the energy to tackle an old project that's been dragging you down.

National Novel Writing Month also provides opportunities to meet other writers. Whether it is making writing buddies or posting on the message boards at the NaNoWriMo website, or actually attending the in-person Write-Ins in your region - it is always good to talk with and network with other writers. If only to compare notes and experiences and even talk about trends in the industry, writing is a solitary endeavor, and it's always good to know you're not alone.

The newness of the NaNoWriMo also keeps you fresh, period. As I indirectly confessed earlier, this is year number eight for me and the NaNoWriMo. I have finished my novel once within the given thirty days, but I have finished the novel started in almost every case. I've edited and revised and submitted those novels as well. And it should most importantly be noted, had it not been for the NaNoWriMo, they never would have been written to begin with.

Imagine that, every November a new manuscript to work on. Some folks work their whole lives to get one manuscript. If that alone isn't enough to get you to do the NaNoWriMo, I don't know what is.

About the author: Glenn Walker is the Membership Director of the South Jersey Writers' Group, Associate Editor of Biff Bam Pop!, and a French fry connoisseur. You can hear him on The GAR! Podcast, The Make Mine Magic Podcast, and see him on The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast. And while he doesn't have any of his own work in it, he wants you to buy and read Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey, and, most importantly, contrary to popular belief, he does not flog guest-bloggers.

My Thoughts on the NaNoWriMo

The following was originally written for the Fear of Writing website back in 2010, and still rings true today. Now that the South Jersey Writers' Group is in the midst of NaNoWriMo, I think this might be a good time to unearth this nugget. Enjoy, and be sure to check out FoW for great writing resources and inspiration.

I love National Novel Writing Month, or the NaNoWriMo, as it's called by most folks. It's a wonderful idea by a terrifically creative young man named Chris Baty. He developed the NaNoWriMo waaay back in 1999 as a way to get folks who want to be writers actually be writers. As he says in his book on the subject, "No Plot? No Problem!", this is for all those people who say they want to write a book someday… well, November first is 'some day.'

For the folks not in the know, November is National Novel Writing Month. For thirty days participants try (and many succeed) to write 50,000 words. And yes, 50k is a relatively low word count for a novel, but it's still over the industry standard for a novel. It all breaks down to roughly 1667 words per day. Other rules include that you can't start until November first, other than planning in your head and maybe outlining, but not one word on the page until start time. This must also be new material, original from your head to the page.

The "No Plot? No Problem!" comes into effect by Chris Baty's concept that you should just write, write anything, write crap even, and that sooner or later you will hit your groove and find your story. I don't necessarily agree, especially with the 'write crap' idea. Any first draft is going to be wonky, hell, it may even be crap - that's why it's a first draft. Even though I'm sure that Stephen King's and probably even Ernest Hemingway's first drafts were crap as well - I don't believe you should set out to write crap, ever.

Baty's theory of writing comes from the idea of pantsing, or writing by the seat of your pants. These are writers who do not use outlines and just go with an idea and see where it goes. This is how I write to some extent, although once I do know where a story is going, I have a target and I work toward it. And I think most folks are like that, not an outliner or a pantser, but a bit of both.

Just write, but write as well as you can. Yes, you can always go back and edit and change and improve the manuscript. But do it after NaNoWriMo November, there is even a NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) in March so you can take a rest in between.

There is also the concept of the NaNoWriMo as a race that bothers me. One year the logo was even that of a track and field runner. As far as I am concerned, this is not a race, and you cannot win it by actually doing the 50k words in the thirty days. You win it by finishing your novel, whether it's under the wire or past it, the act of actually finishing a novel is one of the most fulfilling accomplishments a writer can experience. You have to do it. That's winning.

Taking that concept further, it's not even about word counts or time limits for me when it comes to the NaNoWriMo. It is the discipline. That is the most valuable prize you can come away from November with, the discipline to write. At my Yahoo! Group, Writer Circle, I preach about the Contract for Success, part of which talks about spending an hour of each day trying to write, whether it's actually pumping out words or just staring at a blank computer screen - spend that time trying to write.

It's all about the discipline. And that is what that 1667 words a day during November does to you, it drills the discipline of writing into you. Bottom line, a writer writes. This all goes back to Chris Baty's mantra - you always said you'd write a novel some day, well, it's some day, baby.

Best of luck with your NaNoWriMos, and keep writing, every day.

About the author: Glenn Walker is the Membership Director of the South Jersey Writers' Group, Associate Editor of Biff Bam Pop!, and a podcaster. He currently blogs about pop culture, comic books, videogames, and French fries. Don't hold it against him.