How do you NanoWrimo? Tales from a Writing Rebel

It’s November, which means thousands of writers across the globe go radio-silent for NanoWrimo. But not me. Nope. I’ll still be blogging and streaming on my usual schedule.

Oh, and writing a book.

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is an annual competition. The goal is to write 50,000 words on a rough draft of your first (or fiftieth) novel.

That’s it. Just writing. No editing, no beta reading. Just pumping out 1600+ words each day for thirty days. On average.

If you reach 50,000 words, you win! Bragging rights, mostly, but let’s face it. If you finish all or most of an entirely new work of fiction, you’ve definitely earned the right to boast about it.

Is NaNoWriMo just for novelists?

Absolutely not! NaNoWriMo is for any writer who wants to challenge themselves. Participants aren’t competing against each other, and anything goes.

Poetry, short stories, and play-scripts get written during November. Drafts can be edited. If there’s an itch to get words onto paper (or in a document file,) this is the time to do it.

What Happens when November Ends?

Breathe. Take a step back. Enjoy the final month of the year with family, friends, and festivities.

Then the editing begins. What, you think one draft is the end? Nope. Start editing the first copy. Then find some beta readers. Edit again. Rinse and repeat until you are 90% happy with your work.

90%. Not 100%. We are our own worst critics, after all.

There are Camp Nano events in April and July. Use these as motivation to edit some more. Or start something new. The goal is to keep moving forward with your writing, and NaNoWriMo is a damn good motivator.

NaNo Rebels

Anyone not starting November with the first word on the first page of a new novel is a rebel. These are the poets, the script-writers, the short-story authors.

Some of us already have a work-in-progress. (It’s me. I’m some of us.) Joining the competition gives us motivation and a community to keep the work going.

My goal this year is to spend a minimum of 90 minutes each day working on my novel. Some of that will be making notes of characters or events that popped up during a writing session. I’ll spend a good amount of time transferring my hand-written chapters onto the computer. Most of it, hopefully, will be adding more words to the story I’m telling.

Is It December Yet?

Expect November to be a very busy month for me. I’m still working on this blog. Still streaming on Twitch. I have the tabletop games I play and GM in. There’s also this whole online presence thing I’m trying to figure out on social media.

And I’m writing a damn book.

Wish me luck! November is taking me on quite the adventure.

*Visit http://www.nanowrimo.org for more information. It’s not too late to start your own 50,000 word journey!*