NaNoWriMo: Why did I do this?

Where have I been?

First, I should apologize for anyone out there. I’ve been away a while. A lot of it is because my job as a teacher has started up again. Then a bit of laziness. But I’ve also been preparing myself for NaNoWriMo. Now that I’m 8 days into this crazy marathon, I decided to take a second a hop on the ole’ blog. So here’s what’s new…

What is NaNoWriMo?

In case you haven’t heard of this thing, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every November, a ton of writers take the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel in the 30 days of November. It’s kind of insane in a way, but it’s great for so many reasons. In the interst of clarity, I’ll just number some reasons.

1. It builds writer confidence. You can see what you really are capable if you try.
2. It helps you practice ignoring your so-called “Inner Editor.” You can’t possibly write 50,000 words in a month if you’re constantly second-guessing yourself. So you learn to switch that annoying voice right off.
3. You start to build a community. There are local chapters, tons of forums, online buddies, and real-life “write-ins.” A ton of places like libraries have sections where fellow “Wrimos” can meet and get some quiet writing time in.
4. The website itself offers advice from established authors, and helps support new ones. They also raise money as a nonprofit and help push writing for kids in their Young Writers Program.

Some Tips

I’ve tried NaNo three times now. One time, I did alright, but didn’t get even halfway to 50,000 words. I allowed my “busy schedule” and my lack of confidence to take over. I did get a good story started, one which I do want to go back to. The second time I tried, I had a short idea, but crashed and burned almost right away with basically nothing.

This time, though, I planned. There are two main types of Wrimos – Pantsers (who write “by the seat of their pants”) and Planners (who make detailed outlines of their whole novel).

I’m actually more of what they call a “Plantser,” which is a combination of the two. I had a good idea, and have been journaling about it on and off all year, and had been “thinking about” the story for maybe three years. So here is what I did to prepare. Again, numbered.

1. As I said, I journaled about my story idea for a while. I’ve said before that I’ve been sure to write at least 300 words every day of 2017. Many of those were “brainstorming” sessions about my story. Some were short scenes, where I kind of tested out my characters. Even if the characters were changed or deleted entirely, it allowed me to explore the world.
2. I made an Excel Chart to track my daily writing. You do this on NaNo’s website, but I also like having my own chart with percentages and different graphs which update whenever I put in my current word count. Seeing my numbers fall a bit drive me crazy enough to say “Okay, I’ll write just a few minutes more.” And before I know it, I’ve added a few hundred words or more.
3. I made sure to be part of my local chapter. I’m maybe 45 minutes away from most of them, and I’m busy with “real life,” so I can’t visit write-ins or other meetups. But I have been on our Facebook page a lot. It’s good to know that you’re not alone. Feel  like your story stinks and that you’ll never get caught up with your word count? Somebody else probably just posted those very topics. We’re all there to help each other out.
4. Another thing I did was tell as many people as I could. Family, friends, people at work, my students. I shared some NaNo resources with a colleague, who then emailed it to a gazillion other teachers. So now I can’t give up, right?!

So how is it so far?

As of this writing, I have a word count of 12,560 words. Technically if I divide 50,000 words across the month (1,667 words a day), I should be at 13,333. But I’m 94.2% to where I should be at the moment, and a bit over 25% through the total goal. (Yeah, my nerdy Excel chart told me that.)  But all I need is one real good day, or several pretty good ones, to get myself caught up and even ahead.

It’s hard to resist feeling bad when you see the people who were at like 37,000 words within the first few days of November. But then you realize, they probably don’t have three young kids, a stressful full-time job, and other things going on. Some people go all out and call off for vacation time, and ignore everything else. I’d much rather this be a challening thing I do in my life. Not have it be my life.

If you’re interested at all in doing it, you should. Even if you read this today, and it’s nearly a third the way through the month, make a free profile on the website and get started. Even if you don’t get caught up and can’t make it to 50,000 words, at least you’ll be doing something.

Is it worth it?

Personally, my novel will probably be well over 50,000 words by the time it’s finished. Plus it’s the first in a planned trilogy. So I’m biding my time, trying to build the world and the characters. Every word I get toward finishing a draft is one more word than I had the day before, or the month before.

If you have any questions about it, comment here or head over and join my Facebook Group, Chapter One, Page One. I’d love to see how you’re doing, and any advice you have to share, as well.

Happy writing!