Nano is mostly about motivational tools and pushing yourself beyond your personal demons and distractions to focus on one, external measure of success and just write. If you don't need that to keep moving forward, then maybe it would just be another project and become the distraction for you rather than the point of focus? You know yourself best! Joining groups is probably the only other aspect of it worth considering. They have internal forums that offer challenges, support etc much like you can get here but more focussed because everyone's doing the same/similar things. Then there are offline local groups, which can be good for the soul; even if you don't complete the challenge, chewing the fat with flesh and blood writers every now and then is a good idea.
Nano also gives you prizes for winning. Discounts on products and other such things. If you're on the fence, check out what they have to offer and see if it's worth it. Otherwise, skip it. You're good at keeping on track, so you wouldn't benefit nearly as much from Nano as others would. Focus on what you already have, get that finished, then possibly do it next year.
GuardianWynn, NaNoWriMo is a great motivator for conscious writers. I think the word conscious is very important here - most of the people who take part in it end up writing 50,000 words (not even that for the most part) of complete, uneditable rubbish. Most, though, not all. You're a member of this forum, you've had your worked critiqued, you've got more insight into writing than others who sign up. If you follow through and make sure you are still in control of what you're writing and it's in what you deem to be an acceptable state, you'll actually have a bulk of your first draft done, which will be a relief by the end of the month. I'd say try and stick to your plan if you have one, but if any plot twists arise while writing (which aren't crazy), don't be afraid to use them. Good luck.
People who do Nanowrimo, even when genuinely writing the 50k words in November, will have plotted out their story long before then.
Nah, I'm pretty good at staying disciplined and seeing a project through once I get the momentum going. I certainly don't want to force a lot of words in a short amount of time. Best of luck to anyone who does go for it, though!
I'm sort of in. I write too slowly (generally) to finish NaNoWriMo - I care about my prose quality too much to rush it, even on a first draft. But NaNo does give me a bit more incentive to put the time in, so I'll try it.
Nah. I don't need the motivation and working to a set number of words per day/month/whatever doesn't work for me. Instead, I'm dedicating the month to coming up with an idea and an outline plan for my next novel. I could write a first draft in a month but I'll be lucky if I get a single good idea in that time.
I might just try to finish my novel with a massive effort this Nov. It would be kind of fun to say I started and finished with NaNoWriMo.
I'm going to give it a go (probably!) for the first time. I only started writing last year - mostly short stories- and I think it would be interesting to see what happens when I attempt something longer... I find that type of ticking-off-small-numerical-steps-on-the-way-to-a-larger goal quite motivating so I think it will suit my personality quite well. Any tips for a newbie?
Don't stop to edit, let the story pour out. You can go back and edit later. Also, when I got to parts I was stuck on, I switched to outline, then back to novel. So the ideas were there but it was far from a finished product. Also, I wrote for myself more than for the credit of having done it. At first I couldn't get started, then things finally clicked but the month was half over. I got to 45K words on the last day. I kept writing and by the end of December, I had 134K word draft of a two book duology. Four years later, I'm getting close to the end of a finished book one of the two.
Some people try to break it into even writing shifts. 1,666 words a day I think is the even break. I think that is harder. While it is true to say some things may work better for others than some in my expierence I found I needed a day off every week. So I found doing 4k in one night and then taking 2 days off a lot more relaxing. Because if you just don't have the muse and are tired but are trying to reach that 1,666 words a day. You may not only fail to reach it but burn yourself out for tomorrow. Resting a day, refueling your mind and then making the ground back up the next day is something that saved me.
Both great pieces of advice- thank you! I am a little nervous about writing that much but nothing comes from nothing as they say...
Me personally. I am not sure. I had been waiting for it all year but now that it is close I am not sure if there is any value. I write fast as it is. And I write a lot. There doesn't seem to be any real value in starting a new project just because it is Nov. lol.
It sounds like an amazing challenge. Not sure I am up for it though. I'd definitely be in for getting more of my current project further along. I've only recently decided to pursue writing. I've always had journals growing up, and I wrote some pretty good quality stories in school... So maybe instead of a novel. I could challenge myself to writing a short story each week of November. Get the juices flowing. I have a lot to learn!
Found my group today, hopefully. I will meet with them next week to see if they are a good fit. If not I'll be writing on my own, but hey, that's nothing new.
I'm stoked. I haven't decided yet if I will use it to finish the novel I started during last year's NaNoWriMo, or get a jump on another idea I've been saving for a while. Either way, should be fun!
Try finding people in your local area. Aside from just the writing, you can meet some interesting people who won't be judgmental about your work (should you choose to share) because they are in the same boat as you. You can also make friends, and socialisation is a good thing.
I like having the specific goal to work towards, like a school assignment. Yes, I could set any kind of goal, any time of the year, but with others working towards the same goal at the same time somehow legitimizes it. It's a time when you're required to shut everything else out and focus on the writing. No gaming, no role playing, no casual chat, hanging out or social media nonsense. You can't keep that up all the time, so having one month of pure work gives you a chance to really make something.
I think it sounds like a great motivational tool, but I always imagine that if I tried it the result would be unusable trash.
Well, maybe I didn't establish my point of view correctly. I am saying that in my case. I don't need the motivation tool. I write all the time. On good weeks as much as 3k a night. So I thought maybe NaNoWriMo as such had no value to me. I was wondering if anyone knew about it having another use that I hadn't thought about or didn't know about.
The best thing about NaNo for me personally is that the forum is very busy from at least October to December and you can get a lot of help, motivation, whatever you need during that time. They even have threads where you can post the title of your novel and what kind of story it is, and people can make you a novel cover, which is kind of cool I think. I would also suggest you find your regional forum and contact those people. Sometimes they meet up somewhere like a coffee shop to write and be social which can be great if you like that kind of thing. In my regional forum we also have an open chat room during November so you can chat with people there. We do word wars or just help each other out. Basically, the month of November for me is equally about socializing with other people who love to write and when I'm not able to do NaNo myself because I don't have the time, I still stop by the forums and chat and help out anyone I can or just encourage people. It doesn't sound like you need the extra motivation, but there's no harm in seeing if you actually write 50,000 words in November, and remember, it has to be on a brand new novel, not something you're currently working on, so the reward is a 50,000+ words on a first draft of a new novel which is nice
I did it the other way around. And I wrote 134,000 words, the first 45K I finished in Nov and I just kept going. I ended up with a detailed, but very rough draft. NaNo was useful for me to just write, get a story down, and not worry about how it read. The motivation was different than just working steadily, which I've been doing for the last 4 years now, finishing my first novel.
