It's a personal challenge, rather than a race against someone else. The work isn't read by anyone else unless you willingly choose to share it via email or on an external website. Winning simply means crossing the 50,000 word mark before midnight (user's local time) on the final day. If it were a race against others then many people would simply cheat as there is no way to prove that the work was done in the allocated time or if the person started early. The "award" for achieving the goal in time is a .pdf certificate. And, of course, 50k. I use these challenges to get a kick start on a new project, so I don't usually manage to write a single novel in a month, eg: the novel I'm currently working on is 168k in length and the first 75k was written in November 2010.
ah!... thanks for the info... i'd always wondered about that... couldn't see how it could be enforced/proven...
As said it is a personal challenge. Someone could put in 1million as their word count but it doesn't mean anything. The challenge also helps writers find time in their life to write along with a deadline to help motivate them. It's also a nice way to just ignore the flaws in the writing and just let them write during this time. They can get their story on paper. I have participated three times, first time I failed because my computer crapped out on me and the other three times I won. I am also rather pleased with what I came up with. Though as one could imagine they need some serious work. lol
Ah, but would the person have put in those sixty hours without NaNoWriMo? To me, that's the point. NaNoWriMo gives some of the people who keep thinking, "Boy, I should work on my writing..." the motivation to actually do so. There might be better ways to put in those hours, but if they don't put them in at all, "better" is beside the point. And I think that it's a great way to break through the perfectionism barrier. Without a deadline, you can write one sentence, stare bleakly at it for an hour because it isn't as good as your favorite author's writing, then give up for a week. With NaNoWriMo, there's pressure to write the next sentence, and the next one. If you give up for a week, you're never going to make the deadline. So making yourself care about that deadline will get you writing. NaNoWriMo pokes perfectionism in the eye. I love that. If you're already productively writing, you don't need it--though you might enjoy it anyway. But if you're always meaning to write and never quite doing it, NaNoWriMo may help you break through. ChickenFreak
Last night i signed up for NanoWriMo, an event that most of you may know cause some of you take part in it. While i was signing up for it, i noticed it had Educators and Young Writers? I signed up for the Young Writers program and i noticed it had directions for both of those. How does NanoWriMo work for kids in school like me? Do you just work on it after Homework? Or do you just gradually write as the months goes by? Because i want to know how this works so i can tackle my biggest procrastination problems and finally say i wrote a book. My goal is 250,000 words, a little crazy but i think i can do it. I chose my novel Terra to be the project i would be working on next month. If i were to gradually write this after school, how would i tackle my procrastination problems? At first i thought you would have a chance to write during school or get a certain time in the school day to write it. My school sadly doesn't support this event. But i was thinking if i should tell my Language Arts teacher about it so she would know i took such a challenge. How does this all work? I ask alot of questions, but this might be the answer to all my writing problems. I want to be known of actually finishing a Novel and hopefully more then one. I want to able to look proud and be proud of myself by working so hard. For me i have it worse, my Dad procrastinates really bad, i guess it's a Family thing. Or maybe because im a lefty so my brain has a hard time triggering motivation. I don't know. I get motivated and actually write for a week, then i crash and burn. Maybe this is what i need to unleash my inner Writer, my wake up call....
For your first book, I would just suggest lowering your desired word count. The standard 50,000 words for NaNo is a lot to do in a month, and once you have this first one "under your belt" the next book should come easier. I would start by scheduling two 30-60 minute writing times a day. Pen these into your day and stick to them, even if you're not focusing and writing very much. Just start with that and see if you finish the 50,000 words by the month of November. The more you write the easier it is to settle into a rhythm with your writing, and NaNo is the perfect way to push you along.
This year's gonna be my first NaNo, too, so I might be mistaken, but I think it's something you have to do on your own time? I second Victoria's advice - at least 30 minutes a day would be good, if you've got a busy schedule. If I may hijack this thread for a second - has anyone else already signed up for NaNo, but can't sign in? Every time I try, it tells me my username doesn't exist, and I've had to reset my password every time I was to play around with my profile. Is it because NaNo hasn't started, or am I just glitching? Anyway, good luck with your novel, Xeno!
Stick to the 50,000 words goal. It's way more realistic and trust me, you'll be glad you didn't up it. NaNoWriMo is very challenging and you'll find it helps with your procrastination if you do everything they tell you. Tell people, add some pressure of failure. Get a reward if you make it. It's fun and very useful, but not something I'd upgrade into more difficulty. I did it first last year, and it took a lot out of me (I procrastinated a lot the first few days) but there is a huge satisfaction to be felt when people congratulate you on your small success. I reccommend it to everyone, really. Good luck, guys.
You're fourteen, and you think you're going to write 250,000 words in a month? Um, I don't think so. 250,000 words is a hell of a lot of words. A month isn't a lot of time, especially when you have schoolwork to do. Do the 50,000 words. That's still really tough, but it can be done. I've never done it, but I don't write very fast. I might try it this time around. In fact, the more I'm typing about this, the more attractive it is to try it this time. Thanks for inspiring me!
Another vote for sticking to the fifty thousand words - that's plenty for a month. After NaNoWriMo, you could resolve to keep on writing a certain number of words per week or per day, and try to use that resolve as a tool to fight procrastination.
I didn't think about how long it was. 250,000 is too much. I think i decided to write that much because i thought i needed that much to write a good story- i was wrong. 250,000 is more of a gradual process not first-time Authors. I might change it to 80,000. 80,000 sounds alot more reasonable. I bet 80,000 wouldn't be too bad. Then yet i have a few days to consider if that's a good idea or not. 50,000 or 80,000. Don't know!
80,000 is doable if you don't procrastinate too much. It's less than 3000 a day, but it's a lot to maintain at a steady pace over the course of a month.
It probably would be advisable to stick to 50,000- but something tells me i can write 80,000. Within 30 days it could be possible, i just need to make sure im entirely focused if i decide to write that much. If i stick to 50,000 it would be alittle bit easier; decisions, decisions.
Heres an idea. Once you reach 50k you don't need to stop. You can continue writing for as long as you want. The goal of NaNoWriMo, well one of them, is to find time in a busy schedule to write. To help authors find time during the day where they can sit down and write. 50k words is just a goal... but many people continue writing long after they finish that mark. If you find that you get past 50k before November ends just keep upping the word count.
Who here is participating in National Novel Writing Month 2011? I'm surprised there isn't a thread about this already (maybe I overlooked it). For those of you unfamiliar with it, here is the official site. The basic idea is to write a novel in one month by concentrating on quantity, not quality. I haven't decided whether to participate or not yet, probably not since it'll be especially difficult to find the time. If a forum was made to discuss NaNoWriMo and track progress, would you participate?
I'm participating. I may back out due to university work but I'm planning on least giving it a try. It'll be my second time doing it and I've planned my novel more so hopefully I'll do better than last year. Daniel: If there was a NaNoWriMo dedicated section on here then I probably would participate, if you were thinking of creating one. There's usually a NaNoWriMo thread which is sufficient though (for me anyway).
I think I'll participate. I did ScriptFrenzy one year and got halfway through my script, but then I realized I didn't like the script format and would rather rewrite the story as a novel. That's probably what I'll do for NaNoWriMo this year.
This year, I'm not even going to try and fool myself. I won't be doing NaNo this year. I don't have the time, and would rather focus on my short stories. I'd like another acceptance before the end of the year. Good luck to everyone taking part. I always thought the idea of editing after November was scarier than the actual writing of the first draft.
I have been looking forward to NaNoWriMo for so long, so it's a great shame that I probably won't be able to make the time for it this year. I will participate, but I already know I won't even get close to the target. It's so typical that I have exams on the 28. and 30. November. Need to study study study.
If I had to fit NaNo in with all the other things I have to do this November, I'd not be able to sleep and lose my mind. Maybe when I'm out of college and don't have finals during the first and second weeks of December. I'm having more fun with shorties and essays right now too anyway. Good luck to everyone who starts tomorrow though!
