It’s the End of October! Beware the NaNoWriMo!
A look back on some sage advice about NaNoWriMo with a Trip to the Vault today, October 29th, 2023
By Cindy Layton
What is NaNoWriMo?
A NaNoWriMo is a thirty-tentacled beast that resides beneath the libraries of the underworld. Each November it ascends from its depths and searches out the writers among us, ready to swallow them whole.
That’s not true. It’s the meta-physical reaction writers conjure when they’re lost in an infinite corn maze, calling on their inner NaNoWriMo to guide them safely through the path to their denouement.
No! Don’t you watch TV? It’s the medical condition (NNWM as big pharma calls it) writers get when they’ve eaten too many apples, apple pie, apple fritters, apple brown betty, apple sauce, and apple cider donuts in November.
If its NNWN, ask your doctor if December™ is right for you.
You know what? National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is all those things and more. It’s a beast of a writing challenge. It’s a maze of 30 days spent writing 50,000 words. And when we’re done we’ll all have a collective stomachache from sitting at our desks for the entire month of November.
So, with those inducements, who should join this writing competition?
The rules say only new projects or ones with significant rewrites are eligible but plenty of writers adjust the rules to suit their own needs.
It’s a challenge. If you like the idea of throwing down the gauntlet and competing to write those 50,000 words in thirty days, then go on and be your own bad self. (It’s as much an internal challenge as it is a competition within the writing community.).
NaNoWriMo seems best suited for someone who has been kicking around a novel idea and has something of a story arc and characters. They’ve probably told themselves several times that “today’s the day I’m going to write that story.” NaNo gives you the starting time and sets the clock for you.
Before you get to November 1st, though, it’s best to prepare for the rising of the beast. No, not more cider donuts! A Plan! You need a plan.
It’s far more difficult to wake up on November 1st, decide that today’s the day and start from true scratch.
If you work from an outline, spend the next 3-4 weeks designing one.
If you’re a “panster” (you know who you are) get in your own head and do some inner formulating: walking, reading, writing prompts, do what you do to prepare for the battle.
Acknowledge that there will be significant obstacles: leftover Halloween candy, Black Friday week(s), moderating the squabble between Aunt Arelia and your mother over the Thanksgiving Tofurkey.
It’s all gonna happen and NaNoWriMo is your perfect excuse to deny, deny, deny. Too busy to eat, too busy to shop, too busy to talk. It’s all built into the process.
Repeat after me: Sorry. Got NaNo today.
In any event, understand that your product, even at 50,000 words, is not finished. It’s a draft scratched out at lightning speed, low on the word count for a novel and in need of several iterations of revision. But also know that several best-selling authors have given birth to their novels by participating.
Since I’m already knee deep in a project the timing doesn’t work for me. But I’m all in on the sentiment and the motivation.
May the best NaNo slayer win!
If you want to join here’s the NaNoWriMo site.
Read more about how to prepare from Reedsy Blog.
More thoughts from our own AoR bloggers on NaNoWriMo:
From Elizabeth Solar: Getting Around the Block - Writer’s Block – with NaNoWriMo
From our guest blogger Diane Barnes: National Novel Writing Month Works For Me
PS NaNoWriMo offers this charming alternative on their website:
Q. Can I set a goal of something other than 50,000 words?
A. Yes! But it will an independent goal, rather than an official NaNoWriMo goal.
Instead of accepting the official challenge from the NaNoWriMo banner, just set an independent goal using the dragon box on your Dashboard. You can choose whatever word-count goal and timeline will work for you and write alongside the rest of the NaNoWriMo community at your own pace. (This is a secret, but several NaNo HQ staff members participate like this each November!)
FYI Note: you won’t get access to the winner page with the official certificate, flair, and winner offers if you participate like this.
