NaNoWriMo Tips
November is here! And for those new to NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. A time when a wave of writers and aspiring writers become determined to make headway on their novels. To note, while writing a ready-to-submit-to-agents-or-publishers novel takes a lot longer than a month, I still think NaNoWriMo is a beneficial way to start something that’s been brewing inside you. It’s that much needed kick in the butt to get going! Do this thing! Join the Productive Writing Parade! I’m going to share some (hopefully) helpful tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years, as well as link to a few resources.
1. Make a realistic goal: Writing 50k is the general marker for NaNoWriMo, but I find this isn’t realistic for everyone, especially those who have day jobs, or kids, or are looking to accomplish something beyond word count. So before you begin, make sure you set a goal for the end of November that is A) curated to your specific needs with your novel, and B) that you know you can hit. For me, my goal this NaNoWriMo is to edit the 75k words I have already written in my current WIP and write four more chapters.
My other advice with this is to always write to daily milestones that work for you. I am not a word count writer. That form of accountability does not work for me. Some days I write 500 words, others I write 3,000. That’s just how my brain is, so I decided a long time ago not to fight this and instead I do chapter markers and, even more recently, time markers. During the week, I set out to write one hour a day. This can be split up to thirty minutes in the morning before work and thirty minutes in the evening after work. If I write more than this, amazing! I feel like a super hero. But no matter what, one hour a day will happen. On the weekends, I have a four hour timestamp for Saturday and Sunday. Again, this is what works for my current life schedule. Find one what realistically works for you, but also pushes you to be as productive as possible.
2. Do NOT compare your progress: I know, this is a hard one, but as I stated above, everyone uses this month differently and it’s good to remember that. Some are trying to complete a first draft of a book, while others, like me, are working on edits and re-writes. At the end of the day, progress is progress, and as long as you are checking off daily milestones, you are rocking this NaNoWriMo!
3. Edit later: NaNoWriMo is different from writing any other time during the year in the sense that it’s all about quantity. How much can you push yourself to get done in one month? This of course doesn’t apply if you’re using this time to literally edit. If this is the case, then yes, edit now ;). But, if you’re here to write that first draft of your novel, it’s the time to practice speed writing. Which means, write, write, write and don’t look back until you’re done or you’ve hit your word count goal. Editing is for later. Everyone’s first drafts suck, so don’t put that pressure on yourself to make these words amazing. It’s more about getting the basic story structure down and giving you something to work with after.
4. You are not done once NaNoWriMo ends: This is a friendly reminder that, as I stated above, writing a book takes longer than a month. Once you complete that first draft there will be, and should be, many re-writes, edits, proof-reading, beta reading, etc. So know that your work is not done and with most novels, unless they are middle grade, are more than 50k words.
4. Be proud: Writing the first draft of a novel is a HUGE accomplishment, and you should be extremely proud if this is the goal you’ve set out to do, and meet, by the end of the month. If you don’t meet your end goal, you should still be proud that you started! Writing does not end at NoNoWriMo. Keep going! Follow that similar writing structure that worked for you into December and January and February. After all, authors never stop writing, we participate in novel writing month every month. I invite you to as well!
Helpful NaNoWriMo links: