One of my friends has completed the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge of writing a 50,000 novel by the end of November every year since middle school – she’s a sophomore in college, and it looks like she’ll finish this year too.
That’s 1,667 words a day. 1,667 words a day on top of all the normal school assignments, papers, extracurricular activities, etc. This is no small feat.
What’s cool about NaNoWriMo is that although writing seems like a very individualistic hobby, NaNoWriMo makes it a very communal event. Regions and libraries often host writing events throughout November so that participants can get feedback and meet people with similar interests. The website even allows different regions to work as a team to compete against other regions; my friend from the Chicago area competed against the entire country of France a few years ago.
Here are some tips if you’ve been working on a novel the past few days or if you’re thinking about it (it’s not too late to start!):
1. Use awkward time gaps to up your word count.
If you’re a college student, your schedule probably has some awkward gaps: 15 minutes to get to your class down the hall, a 45 minute break in between class and work, etc. Use these breaks to crunch out some sentences. You could probably write 200-300 words in 10-20 minutes and you’re already closer to your goal!
2. Use an outline.
Novels are complicated. Even though no one’s expecting your first draft to be perfect, a guide of some sort will be great to keep you on task, especially if this is your first time.
3. Create a network.
Whether your friends from school are penning their own novels, or you’re connecting with people from around the world, friends make everything easier. Whether you’re holding each other accountable or bouncing ideas off each other, a writing community is invaluable to the success of your NaNoWriMo experience.
4. Work ahead.
The thing about writing is that when you get into it, you build up a momentum. If you’ve already reached your daily word count but you’re still feeling it, keep going! There are bound to be days when 1,667 words simply isn’t feasible. If you keep writing when you’re on a roll, you create a safety net for those days when the words just aren’t coming to you.
5. Don’t edit.
Let me be clear: you absolutely should edit. Just not during November. NaNoWriMo is not about creating a polished, finished work. It’s about forcing yourself to get that first draft done so you can move on to editing and changing and probably rewriting the entire thing afterwards.
Whether you’re an experienced author or not, NaNoWriMo is a great exercise to force you to write something, even if no one ever reads it. Who knows though – quite a few NaNoWriMo projects have been picked up for publishing within the past couple of years. You might have heard of them: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell all started as hasty 50,000 word drafts written over four weeks.
Good luck and happy writing!
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