22. NaNoWriMo is Almost Here!
Nation Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
One of the best tools for improving is community. I’ve said it before, but surrounding yourself with like minded individuals (like a writing group) will keep you inspired and motivated when you start to lose your own steam.
“Community is the foundation to success.” Kristen Jones
“It takes a village to raise a child.” African Proverb
There are dozens of writing communities, near and far, in person or digital. Check out your local library, search through groups on facebook, or just type some stuff in Google.
A long time ago, my sister told me she was going to participate in something called NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. I didn’t think much of it until a couple of years ago when I started feeling the desire to write the story building in my mind.
Before I go further, let me give a rundown of what NaNoWriMo is. “National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.” That’s it, simple. Just write 50,000 words in the month of November.
Daunting is a very accurate word to describe the challenge. Since it began, NaNoWriMo has grown into something awesome. Several hundred thousand writers embark on the first of November, many with the intent to write all 50,000 words. However, when you sign up to participate in the challenge you can set your own goal.
The purpose behind NaNoWriMo is to write. It’s easy to spend a ton of time going over your work and editing, and rewriting till it becomes perfect. When you’re writing 50,000 words in a month, you don’t have time to make it perfect, you have time to write. December is the time to edit.
This isn’t something you have to get stuck doing on your own. Throughout the month of November, writing groups gather for group writing sessions, or you can create your own writing group to stay motivated and cheer each other on. As you write you earn badges which adds a little bit of fun to hitting those milestones.
Finally, depending on how far you get into your novel, you can earn some steep discounts for various writing software.
Get Planning
All writers are different, and fall into various levels of being a pantser vs planner. But wherever you fall on the writing spectrum, I can guarantee that if you get started now on some level of planning, you can hit November first with fingers blazing across the keyboard.
When I participated back in 2019, I was a fresh young writer and only managed to get 14,000 words. I am most definitely planning on destroying that benchmark.
If you are interested in participating in NaNoWriMo, whether you’re shooting for the full 50,000 words or shooting for another number. Send me a message and be a part of my writing group. My NaNoWriMo username is dwyliecoyote, so make sure to add me as a friend.
Also, in the month of November, I’ll be sending out emails to anyone who plans to participate to help you stay on track and stay motivated, including a simple word tracker that will keep track of each session, how long, how many words, and your typing speed.
Here’s a link to their website if you want to start an account, or just to learn more. NaNoWriMo.
What are you going to write about?
Quotes
“Consistency is more important than perfection.”