A few years ago, we wrote this blog post on preparing for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo takes place during the month of November, and the objective is to draft 50,000 words in one month, which is about 1,667 words per day.
Maybe you didn’t hear about NaNoWriMo in time to start writing on November 1, or maybe the idea of trying to do all that writing at once is intimidating. That’s ok! Let’s check in on how NaNoWriMo is going for you, and some ways you can capitalize on the spirit of this month even if you can’t (or don’t want to) write an entire novel.
If you’re well on your way, good for you!
Maybe you’re right on track to hit your monthly word goal with NaNoWriMo, or maybe you’re even ahead of the game. That’s great, congrats! Writing is hard, and if you’ve consistently averaged just under 2,000 words a day for almost half a month, that’s a big accomplishment.
If that’s you, keep doing what you’re doing, and you might even want to consider trying to get ahead. As Thanksgiving approaches along with the beginning of the holiday season, it’s easy to get busy and let your writing fall to the side. Getting ahead on your word goals is a great way to make sure you stay on track all month long!
If you’re struggling with hitting your goals, that’s ok!
Maybe you’re doing NaNoWriMo for the first time, and you’re finding 50,000 words is a lot more than you thought. Or maybe life got busy during these first few weeks of November, and you aren’t quite where you wanted to be with your novel. Don’t sweat it!
If you’re up to it, try doubling your word count goal for a few days a week. It might seem intimidating to try and write over 3,000 words a day, but if you do that for a couple of days every week, it hopefully won’t take you long to catch up to your overall goal. Or, try adding a few hundred extra words to your goal every day. However you space it out, there’s still time for you to catch up and hit that 50,000 word goal by the end of the month.
If you’ve given up, or never started, that’s also ok!
Maybe this is the first time you’re hearing of NaNoWriMo, or maybe you got stuck after week 1 of writing every day. There are still ways to take the spirit of NaNoWriMo and create something special this month.
Try setting a realistic writing goal for yourself for the rest of November. Maybe 50,000 words isn’t achievable by December 1, but 30,000 is. Or maybe your heart really isn’t in novel writing, but you could try your hand at writing a poem a day for the rest of the month. Or maybe you start a journaling habit–writing is a great way to get out of your head and put your thoughts and ideas out on paper. There are lots of different ways to take the spirit of creativity and fun of NaNoWriMo and make it your own, without having to write a whole novel.
Where are you at in your creative writing process during November? Let us know in the comments!
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