I did NaNo in 2012, working from the 'end' of a short story that I'd been told would make a good prologue in peer feedback. Some days it would take me two hours to write 300 words, other days I could write 2000 in an hour. It varied so much based on how distracted I was, how my day had been, and whether or not I'd left myself anything to work with the day before. The most productive runs I had were the ones where I stopped at 1666/7 regardless of whether I'd finished or not and left myself a brief idea-sketch to work from the next day. A solid week or two of doing that left me more buoyant than any pushes I'd had exceeding the targets, because those days are the peaks of the unproductive troughs. NaNo is one tool for one problem though; getting words down on paper and getting over that critical block, whatever it is. It won't help you edit!
Well, yes and no. I just did this last month just to see if I could. I found myself doing more like 3k a night and then taking the next night or two off. In approach is sounds easy 1,700 words a day. Thing is they have to be related. Sometimes plot inconsistancies begin to emerge. On a time limit? That is harsh. Also 2, 3k a night? Easy for a week. After 3 weeks straight it begins to drag. Like any marronthon the trouble isn't the first mile but the last mile. Does that make sense?
Yes, definitely. I am a newb, so my surprise that 1600 words / day is difficult is probably naive at best.
I still fail to understand this obsession with cramming word count into a time period and using that as a measure of success.
We are all noobs at some point. Mean I was lucky I had a lot of time. To add context think of this. Possible road blocks in the story causing you to rethink the next scene. Life blocking a few days. You will get tired after a while. Time limit. None of these are hard alone but all at once is trickier. Remember you want a good story too. Even if quality isn't the focus you don't want to lack it at large either. Also remember the point of it is to complete a draft. So even if you fail to do it don't stop. See how long it takes. My first attempt? I did about 30k in 6 weeks. To me this isn't really a failure but it wasn't at the standards of it yet. So I pushed to reach that standard. It isn't a measure of success. It a challenge to motive improvement and it aimed at a precise problem actually. A lot of writers run into the issue of being to obsessed with perfecting one chapter they never reach chapter two. This challenge requires one to focus on word count which helps people get past that issue. Plus the challenge of personally challenging yourself is nice. No one is trying to suggest that word count + fast = quality. Or at least I hope no one is suggesting that. lol
I did my first NaNo many years ago and have done it a few times since, but even when I haven't written anything myself, I'm usually on the forums helping out other people if I can. Here's my understanding of NaNo and why it can be a good thing. If you are the sort of person who writes 1,500-2,000 words each and every day and always finish first drafts before starting something new or start editing, I envy you and NaNo is probably not for you (or at least it will be very easy to win, but you should stop by since there's a lot of nice people in the forums). The aim of NaNo is not just to write 50,000 words in a month. That's not really the challenge. The challenge is starting a brand new novel (although they have become a bit more lenient the last few years so you can continue something you're already writing) with the aim of completing a 1st draft. Some complete their first draft in November, others write 50,000+ words in November and finish the 1st draft some time after November. But the goal, as I see it at least, is to complete a 1st draft which is something many, including me, struggle with. Why 50,000 words? 50,000 words is challenging but doable (as the website says) for most people. More importantly, the number is designed so that people will have time to write them in a month, but not have time to edit. The hardest thing for me has always been to finish the 1st draft, always getting stuck editing before moving on. Then I realized that first drafts are not suppose to be brilliant, in most times not even good. Focusing on writing every day, and not just 'when I feel inspired', is difficult but being part of NaNo really helps. You talk to other people in the same situation, you encourage, vent frustration, have word wars and so on. And at the end of November you hopefully have 50,000 words on a first draft and the very good habit of writing every day with a goal of finishing the first draft. Both are positives in my opinion. No, the first draft will probably not be very good, but you have a framework to work with, some good dialogue, some surprising twists. There's always something good hidden under a pile of garbage (I don't know if that's necessarily true...) and in the editing process you re-write, move things around, cut a bunch and kill your darlings and so on. It's better to have 50,000 words and cut down than having 1,000 words and no story. At least in my opinion So if you're like me and have a hard time writing consistently and finishing your first drafts before editing (or starting a new project) then NaNo is definitely for you. (By the way, I don't work for NaNo if it came of that way )
I pick a time to start and a time to stop; in between, I'm writing or at least within easy reach of the keyboard (sometimes I'm pacing and talking to myself). Every day, Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM until noon (currently). But if you can't write every day, you still have to pick a time and be there. My old writing partner used to write every Sunday morning. It was his only day off. He worked about thirteen hours a day, Monday to Saturday, so evenings were impossible. What it boils down to is, whatever your writing time is, always show up at that time and do the work until it's time to stop. For some, it's the number of words or pages per session that gets the job done. For me, it's the amount of time per session.
I have a NaNoWriMo idea and I want to write it! But I want to write it now! I don't want to wait! What do I do! So hard to fight urge!
Haha so make your own NaNoWriMo! Except I think it would be a PerNoWriMo, since it's personal and not national. Set yourself the 50,000 word goal and go for it! (EDT: you can start a progress journal just for this one and keep track of your word count there, that way you feel you're accountable to us to hit your goal.) Or, jot down the ideas enough to remind yourself of it and on Nov 1st, let yourself go wild. This is more or less what I'm doing, since I've told myself I'm not allowed to work on a new novel until I've finished this draft of my current one. Everything I come up with I'm tabling, and I will allow myself to explore it for NaNoWriMo.
Although I love the idea of NanNoWriMo, you shouldn't let it control you. If you're ready and willing to write now, then do it. I've always thought of NanNoWriMo as a kick-up-the-butt for people who need an excuse to write. If you have the drive to write, go write. You can't restrict yourself to only writing for one month of the year, right?
I did that though back in April! 50k in 23 days. I timed myself with a personal journal. But the thing is if I don't wait. I will probably be tired come November and then I will miss the offical month! SAD!
When I was younger NaNoWriMo was something I looked forward to. I loved writing. Finally, when I reached my NaNoWriMo goal of 1,000 words at age 8 years, I realized that writing was what I was meant to do. It's my meaning in life. And now I'm working on publishing my very first book. So, if you have children, I strongly suggest that you nudge them to do NaNoWriMo. But, no more than a nudge is needed if they're a true writer.
I didn't enjoy writing until junior year of high school, when an English teacher had us write a short story, the only restrictions being a minimum length and school appropriateness. I wrote a ten page supernatural thriller and got great encouragement. For the longest time, writing was something you had to do, and there was a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. It was a chore. I had always wanted to work in comic books, and wrote dialogue and plots for my home made comics, but it wasn't until that class that I considered writing stories and novels.
I love that story. Creative writing is something that needs to be encouraged a lot more in schools. It gives kids a chance to express themselves and create something that might just turn out to be truly wonderful. Too often, the writing in schools is focused on reports, research, and other mundane tasks that turn kids off writing altogether. Just think of how many great writers the world might have missed out on because the education system forced them write about something that they couldn't have cared less about, rather than about something for which they were truly passionate. I would never have started writing if I didn't have an idea in college to create a sports humor blog on a whim. I quickly found writing to be a passion of mine because I was doing something I wanted to do, the way I wanted to do it. Slowly, I began to diversify my writing. And here I am today, in the midst of writing a novel that I absolutely love. I wish someone would have me the nudge a little sooner.
@Carl Magnus There's no official peer review process, no. I'm sure if you made friends on the site, you could eventually peer review each others things. It's mostly an accountability forum, and a log that you update every day!
I love NaNoWriMo! I did it for the first time last year. Call me clueless but I had no idea it existed before my neighbor told me about it last fall. This reminds me of people who don't agree with the idea of Valentine's Day, or Mother's Day, or Father's Day for that matter, because "shouldn't we be showing our love all year?" Well, yes. Obviously. But it also doesn't hurt to take time to put in a little more effort than usual once in a while. As others have said, I appreciate NaNoWriMo because it it an opportunity for me, for one month, to focus 95% of my energies on writing. I have a full time job, a husband, a toddler, a home, and needy family members. 11 months out of the year, writing has to compete with all of those things for my time and energy. I still write all year, but it's extremely refreshing to allow myself to put writing first (or almost first; my toddler isn't quite old enough to be put on the backburner yet) for an entire month. I still have to work and take care of everything else, but my priority shifts to writing. If I did that all year, I'd lose my job, neglect my family, and my house would burst apart from the mess within. One month is doable, 12 months is not. Besides, it is a fun goal. I made 50k words last year, but my story wasn't finished so I've continued to work on it all year (just not with the same intensity!). I'm already planning what I will use as this year's NaNoWriMo project, and I'm excited.
Okay. I learned about Nano from here. I joined her last Nov. So I didn't know it exsisted until January. All year I had been thinking about it with excitement. Yet now I sm questioning myself. NaNoWriMo seems to be more about motivating people. Yet this entire year I have been writing fairly consistantly. Took about one month off to recharge but beyond that every week I produce something. So I will no doubt be writing a lot during Nov. So the question hit me. Should I sign up and deticate Nov. to one new project? It doesn't seem like there is much of a point. It seems like editing/revising/writing as normal might yeild more than just adding another giant WIP to the need to be edited pile. I even tested myself earlier this year to the standards of Nano. Okay. Sorry it is late here. I might be getting off track. Big question is this; Is this something to Nano that I didn't mention that I don't know about? Some reason I should do it that I seem to be unaware of? Thank you.
I've never done the full NaNo but I did do Camp NaNo in April and July this year. I sometimes struggle to stay focused on my writing but having a set word goal (and other people holding me accountable for said goal) was great for keeping me motivated. I wrote tons but the quality was shocking. I think something like NaNo would be great for fleshing out a hazy idea. I I really got a feel for some aspects of my story but most of what I wrote will need to be completely rewritten if used at all. I found I write differently when I'm under the time pressure which led to some interesting developments to the plot. Word wars were one of the best things about doing it for me. Even when I felt like I had zero motivation they made me write something even if the quality wasn't there.
