EVERETT — Buford Colt isn’t alive — not yet, anyway.
He exists only in the rough outlines on Eric Lancaster’s laptop, in his notebooks and the recesses of his mind. But ask the 25-year-old Everett man about his latest fictional character, and he’ll rattle off details without a moment’s hesitation.
He’s a cowboy, gambler and a drinker in his early 30s living in the Wild West.
His father was killed at the Battle of Antietam in 1862 during the Civil War, and Buford’s mother died of tuberculosis when he was 10.
The traveling rodeo Buford joined after being orphaned has become his surrogate family.
Lancaster can tell you all this, though he hasn’t written a single word. He won’t do that until Nov. 1 — the day National Novel Writing Month kicks off.
National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, is an internet challenge that gives people 30 days to write a 50,000-word book. The books can be novels, memoirs, biographies or otherwise.
Started in 1999 by a freelance journalist in Oakland, California, NaNoWriMo has grown over the past 20 years into one of the largest writing events in the world; about 395,000 people on six continents participated in 2017.
Eric Lancaster finished his Western novel before the 30-day deadline in 2017. Only 25 percent of Snohomish County’s National Novel Writing Month participants completed the challenge. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
The challenge focuses on length rather than quality, so writers won’t get bogged down by editing. Still, the writers’ success rate of meeting the 50,000 word count was just 14 percent this past year.
Locally, about 100 of Snohomish County’s 400 participants finished the challenge — twice the world average. Lancaster was one of them.
Lancaster wrote about 1,667 words per day to pull it off. If he didn’t reach his word count one day, he picked up the slack the next.
The husband and father also works as a Navy damage controlman at Naval Station Everett. He kept up with his responsibilties, only writing during his free time.
“For me, it was sitting down and actually forcing myself to hit that word count,” Lancaster said. “Before, I would write and when I was done, I was done. If you don’t set word count goals for yourself, it gets really difficult.
“Thirty days isn’t a whole lot of time to write a book.”
It isn’t a lot of time to write a book — but write one he did.
Eric Lancaster self-published his first book, “To Hell On A Fast Horse,” after participating in National Novel Writing Month in 2017. (Eric Lancaster)
Lancaster wrote the Western novel “To Hell on a Fast Horse,” recently self-published through Amazon. It’s about 53,000 words.
“That was one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever had,” he said. “If you stick with it, the payoff is definitely worth the pain.”
This November, Lancaster is taking a different approach to writing what will become his second book — mostly by way of preparation. Instead of making up the story as he goes along, he has already created story outlines for the beginning, middle and end.
“I really wanted to plan it out to make it easier on myself,” Lancaster said.
He also will continue to seek camaraderie through Snohomish County’s regional chapter of National Novel Writing Month by attending local writing events and joining virtual chat groups.
“Our job is primarily to setup a local community and help it thrive, but also keep it fun and welcoming,” said Stephanie Fields, the chapter’s liaison.
Fields said camaraderie can make the difference between meeting and not meeting the deadline. Without that support, writers can feel isolated and less motivated.
“When I look at statistics of people who didn’t cross the finish line, they’re usually people who don’t get involved in the local community or engage in the online forums,” Fields said.
October is known as Preptober among writers. They’ll often meet at coffee shops and libraries to go over each other’s plot points, character arcs and story twists.
“Snohomish County has maybe the best writing community I’ve ever seen,” Lancaster said. “It’s so supportive.”
Everett Public Library is hosting a series of National Novel Writing Month “write-ins” at its Hoyt Avenue and Evergreen Way branches through November. The hope is that writers will be encouraged to push through if they see others working hard to meet the word count, Fields said.
“A lot of people get burnt out,” she said. “It’s pretty daunting.
“You need to be comfortable writing garbage and turning it into diamonds later.”
Lancaster plans to go to the library write-ins. Though his book still has a lot of unknowns, he’s also eager to see how each chapter fits together.
“You’re almost writing a movie as you’re watching it,” he said. “In your head, you know what the theater looks like, but no one else sees what you see. They just see you clicking away on the keyboard.”
Evan Thompson: 360-544-2999; ethompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @ByEvanThompson.
If you go
What: National Novel Writing Month “write-ins”
Where: Everett Public Library, Hoyt Avenue branch, 2702 Hoyt Ave., Everett, and Evergreen Way branch, 9512 Evergreen Way, Everett
When: Noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 3, 10, 17 and 24 at the Hoyt branch, and 1 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Nov. 25 at the Evergreen Way branch
More: 425-257-8250 or www.nanowrimo.org, www.epls.org
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