Winning Strokes: A Novel Creation

She typed 1,700 words, six hours a day, for one whole month. Her motivation: to be the sole participant from the UAE to complete a 50,000-word novel for an annual online National Novel Writing Month competition.

And Janet Olearski, an Abu Dhabi-based Londoner, finally made it.

"Every evening after my work, I switched off my mobile and typed. From 6.30pm till midnight, I wrote 1,700 words a day, rarely deviating from the pattern," she said.

Except one day when she typed 500 words on her way to Oman in a car. That's why Olearski had to write 2,500 words on the last day of the month to reach the 50,000 word count.

However, the award for the winner is far from a publishing contract.

"There is no cash reward for writing a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Log on to the site and submit your novel. If it's 50,000 words, you'll be congratulated and offered an online certificate. There are no prizes, and the complete novel is your only reward," she says.

Olearski, who likes to read and write, laughs off any suggestion of using underhand tactics to win the ‘competition'.

"Yes, you may have something pre-written or even a half-finished novel before the competition. But then there's no incentive to cheat because there are no prizes and no one monitors," she grins.

Titled Autumn In Namisa, the novel is the fruit of sheer hard work. It draws inspiration from various cultures. However, Olearski creates a new nation called ‘Namisa', with a new culture, new people and even a new language. The novel draws influence from other languages, like ‘problem' is ‘bushkil' in the novel, which sounds similar to mushkil, Arabic for ‘difficult'.

Despite her galloping speed and 50,000 words, Olearski's novel is not a finished product. "I have to write 10,000 words more to complete the novel.

Nanowrimo writers were advised to throw out their inner editors while writing, but "unfortunately my inner editor refused to go away and slowed me down by checking and punctuating my writing", quips Olearski.

Words Worth

Organised by the US-based website www.nanowrimo.org, the annual online National Novel Writing Month competition witnessed 100,930 participating authors from 70 countries, writing in various languages.