The following is a recap of my first experience participating in NaNoWriMo! This has been published shortly after the end of NaNoWriMo 2018, and is intended to provide other newbies, and returning veterans, some insight on what things can be done to better prepare for it in advance!
Thank you for reading, and happy writing!
Ahh yes! That season is upon us again!
That special space between autumn and winter; a time of higher-learning, mental stimulation, crunchy leaves, and coffee + pumpkin spice addictions, and all of the jokes and memes that follow suit! … It is also the time of one of the writing world’s most celebrated and engaging months of the year, NaNoWriMo!
So like... what is NaNoWriMo anyways? - *headscratch*
For those who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it respectively stands for “National Novel Writing Month”, a month-long creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. All sorts of artists, writers, and creatives across the internet participate in may different ways, but the traditional goal is for participants to write a 50,000 word manuscript based upon a prompt or idea, either provided for them or developed on their own.
Those who engage in this event are obligated to follow specific guidelines when writing:
- Writing starts midnight on November 1st, and ends 11:59:59 PM on November 30th.
- Novels must reach 50,000 words before the end of November.
- Extensive notes and outlining is permitted, but no written material before November 1st.
- Not restricted to any theme or genre of writing, as long as it is a single manuscript totaling 50,000 words.
While participants are expected to follow these guidelines, the movement has gained all sorts of traction with many other artists, and writers with less lofty goals (who brand themselves as “Rebels” … (karate chop!)).
As long as the month is used to focus on any creative project; drawing, creative writing, song-writing, painting, etc … you can set whatever goals you wish during the month.
And really… who’s to say “no” to an excuse to get artsy?
— CUE THE GENERIC WRITING STOCK PHOTO! =D —
The Newbie Experience (starring yours truly!)
After all of the time reading about the project and speaking with those who participate, it occurred to be that as an aspiring writer in the midst of writing his first novel, I was really missing out on something big here!
So, on November 1st, 2018, I decided to jump right into the project! Despite requiring a NEW manuscript, I decided that this would be an opportunity for me to “Rebel” (double-backflip, three-point landing) and instead work on my current project, trying to get past a lot of the mental obstacles I had been running into with my current manuscript; a large nebula of partial-chapters, partial-scenes, and renegade notes floating into the ether.
I realized that 50,000 words shouldn’t be all that big of a goal provided the right focus. Knowing me, however, I had some bugs to work out in that department, so modestly saying that I would “get as far as I could” would be the best approach. Beholden to no obligations, I would freely write as I could to untangle, write, and re-write the next few chapters for great justice, only counting words that went toward the book in either prose, dialogue, or serious outlining.
It doesn’t sound like a lot to an adamant writer, a NaNoWriMo veteran, someone with lots of free time, or someone with less obligations and/or mind-glitches than myself.
Coming up Short (or "Why I'm a total n00b!")
My first few days were as expected; progress mixed with me falling to the mental habit of overthinking everything, and burning out sooner.
“Should I have the characters do this? Does this dialogue make sense? What if my pieces don’t add up? Did I outline this section wrong? What if I just spill my thoughts onto a page to make this scene clearer to me, so I stop overthinking it? Great! I think I’m making progress here! … But meh. I have a headache. Let me sleep on it and come up with the answer tomorrow!”
*Facepalm*
Of course, even with that problem, I was able to reach days where the air was just right; the coffee before me was brewed with just the right beans, with just the right portion of cream, in a coffee shop with just the right lighting, my mind easing to just the right music, after a work day of just the right amount of headspace spent. The words would come easier, and even if the amount of words ere not significant, the quality of the writing was, and the material I needed to make it work was right there, in my head.
All writers know what that struggle is, and I suspect that my efforts are a smaller sample of that kind of behavior seen in most writers, and aspiring writers.
As time went on, the pattern kept on, but then something else began to get into the way; the stark Minnesota winter, the sudden feeling of social emptiness, the arrival of new scheduled obligations, the distraction (*ahem* enjoyment) of family and friends during Thanksgiving break,
… and the very convenient (inconvenient) releasing of a VERY specific video game for FREE (it rhymes with “Estonie Foo”), and my friends suddenly converging on it at once, pulling me forward with the promise of fun and great digital memories to be had!
Oh life!… You are so cruel with your tempting toys, and anxious loneliness!
The Result of my Insubordination! (Shame!!)
For a visual representation, I used Pacemaker Press to track my word count each day, trying to keep track of where I was in relation to my goal. So, how well did I do?
Uhmm…
Yep!
Could, certainly be better.
If what you are seeing is something you think is still impressive in and of itself, then I appreciate the kind thoughts! *fist bump*
If you are noticing some inconsistency, or opportunities for change, you are right on the nose!
So what did I do wrong? Some of those things are pretty dead obvious; I should have said “No” to a lot of the distractions, and kept writing. Also, not being stricter about the actual 50,000 is one thing a purist might insist that I do focus on. In the future, it’ll certainly be a goal, but as this was me dipping my toes in the water, and placing myself to a lesser standard. With that said, no ceiling placed above me, I would have hoped for more.
Well, aside from working on a current manuscript, what ALSO I realized is that I didn’t leverage a very important part of the process; preparation! … I just sort of, jumped into it without thinking, or expecting anything.
Here is where another internet-driven month-long project has spawned in the eerie shadow of NaNoWriMo’s past unfulfilled by other aspiring writers such as myself.
I am referring to a thing aptly called… Prep-tober!
Prep-tober? Is that supposed to be a pun?
Yes. Prepare + October = Prep-tober!
Weird!
No its not. … It’s Preptober!
Wait. ... You used a hyphen, and then you stopped.
Yes. Yes I did.
Thought so! ... But like... what is Preptober?
It is exactly as it sounds!
Taking time before November 1st to identify what it is you want to write, get your rogue ideas down on paper, and prepare yourself for a better November!
While flying by the seat of your pants can be fun and interesting, sometimes having a road-map gives us the knowledge to get to where we need to go sooner, and get there without a lot of extra hiccups. The goal of the prep is optimizing your NaNoWriMo experience, managing your time ahead of time, and setting you up for better success when the 1st rolls around!
Full disclosure, there’s no actual reason to panic. I’ve just been waiting for an excuse to this this photo. Doesn’t it just make you feel ancy?! It like “Stop what you’re doing and listen right now, young lady / man / person!” =D
… anyways….
You might be feeling really anxious right now! Have no fear!
Having attempted NaNoWriMo, and having a better understanding for what I could have done better, here is a listing of things that I’ve researched, and have also felt could have been improved upon ahead of time.
Get involved with the writing community; in person, or digital!
This one does underutilized a lot, but having a group that enables writing progress is powerful! Finding out where writers congregate an what NaNoWriMo events are happening near you will give you a way to include yourself with the pack! If nothing is local, there are all sorts of communities on the internet; Facebook groups, forum websites, Yahoo/Google/other groups.
I ended up using Discord (a chat app used mainly for gaming and youth collaboration) and was recommended to the Twin Cities NaNo channel by a friend.
With some searching, and a bit of luck, you can find the sort of social enablement to best sustain you throughout the month of November; all centered on the same goal!
Keep a journal or blog.
Sometimes, you need separate space to keep tabs on your progress, show other people what you have been up to, or simply to dump all of the excess so that you have some way to clear your head for October, November, and onward.
I started this blog earlier this year with no clear goal on what to do with it, until I realized that I needed a platform for my nerdery, and my thoughts in regards to writing. (Obviously, I dropped the ball and didn’t report to the blog as much as I could have).
As long as you can use it as a tool, and not get distracted by it. The intent is to remove distractions, and enhance your writing momentum, and story-building focus.
Fit in some reading by authors whose prose you enjoy!
Does one need to be a good reader in order to be a good writer? … I mean, maybe not at a 1:1 ratio, but could you lift two 80 lbs weights without ever working out? Could you run a marathon without ever getting up in the morning and doing a mile? Could you build a computer without ever powering one on?
I can’t tell you that you can’t do a thing. If you have the willpower, you can certainly do anything!
But how well? In what timeframe? How much of what you write will line up with what people want to read? And where is your internal narrator; that engine of grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and inspiration which comes alive at the drop of a blank page?
My advice; build that inner narrator. Read.
Collect quotes, ideas, and things you enjoy from reading and other stories.
Inspiration requires positive re-inforcement, and a pool if thoughts pull from.
Take some days in October, and find some quotes by established authors, artists, or inspirational types. Take a walk through the city, or the wilderness, and start brainstorming some cool ideas, writing down each of them. You may or may not use them, but having them is key.
Create a list of all of the things you love about your favorite novels, stories, TV shows, movies, video games, etc. Establish a compass for what you want this project to be, or what you feel fits into the story or work.
Getting the library of ideas going earlier will help you orient yourself for November, and save you the time you would have spent while in the thick of things if you hadnt.
Start your research!
Some of those ideas require some knowledge building. Why wait for when the moment strikes, and get head-start on it? What do you suspect will come up in the story? What info should you know now to better write it when you are there?
You won’t know everything you need to research now, but the more you do now, the more prepared you are to write. What clothes did people wear in those times? How far can someone jump from building to building without getting hurt? How do you describe that kind of architecture? What happens when someone gets struck by lightning?
Write a synopsis, or a series of descriptions.
Summarizing your work allows you to see the idea up close, and not be left to simply visualizing it. This goes hand-in-hand with outlining; taking the general idea for the story, or the pieces you want to tell, and giving yourself a representation of them on the page to better realize what ideas or concepts you have.
This is the safe version to pitch to other people, and see what they think (within safer circles that aren’t prone to steal someone else idea).
Also, having an idea on how you want to describe now something opens the door to more ideas later when you’re doing the manuscript writing… provided that you aren’t cheating by writing prose before November 1st. (But really, why cares as long as you are writing something?)
Outline your work. Use a worksheet, or a beat sheet!
Building a grand cathedral is more manageable when you are building it brick-by-brick. Taking the big things and breaking them down into smaller things makes things easier!
There are all sorts of methods, and sheets to accomplish this process, and stay in line with the three-act structure, and stay true to your vision for the project.
Might I recommend the Snowflake Method of outlining:
And the Save the Cat Beat Sheet for plotting (self plug!!):
Prepare your schedule to optimize writing and free time!
Despite all of the brain-building exercises, your biggest obstacle will still be distractions, scheduling, and keeping to a routine. Knowing that you want to dedicate your month to writing allows you to plan ahead.
Take a look at your work, school, and activity schedule for November to see where you can trim off the extra fat, and fit in some good writing time, and time for introspection. Know what events are coming up that you or your friends may want to pull you toward, and make a decision on whether that is a distraction, or a reward for good work.
Learn to say no to things, while also knowing what things will keep your morale up, and figure out the best balance for managing that time. Establish your routine early!
Prepare your space, and get your things ready!
Finally, know where the magic is going to take place. Find a space that fits you, and keeps you away from the other distractions of the world.
What places allows you to get into the zone, and keep focused on one task? Can you set up a place for yourself in your home, apartment, dorm room, or studio? What things can you do to take an environment that is distracting and remove those temptations? Is it at home, or is most of your time spent on the go? Is it going to be in a cafeteria or study hall between classes? Is it at work during lunch hours? A coffee shop? A special nook somewhere in your local library?
Knowing where and when ahead of time saves brain power, and gets you comfortable with the territory before you do the real work!
Start writing! ... But most importantly, don't worry! Remember to have fun!
Once November 1st rolls around, you should be properly primed to get the most out of your NaNoWriMo time!
Remember that putting a large expectation over your head is not all-motivating. Sometimes, it can be a bit much to function under that weight. It is important to pace yourself, give yourself time to breathe, and tend to whats important for your mental and emotional health.
If you need to keep away from the thing thats bugging you, then that is what you need. You are ultimately your own compass. Its a matter of meeting your writing needs with the needs of yourself. What is going to make you happy? What is going to allow you to want to write?
Focus on those things, and enjoy yourself!
This article was written in one day, and totals about 2,600+ words.
See? I’m good at this writing thing when I want to be! ;P
Feel free to check out more writing articles here, written by ME!
STOCK PHOTO CREDITS:
- How the IGDN Supports Diverse Voices in Tabletop Gaming - November 13, 2024
- Storytelling: Three Act Structure, and How it Works! (Act Two) - September 30, 2024
- 5 Awesome Fantasy Map-Making Tools on Steam - September 9, 2024
