5 Tips to Succeed at NaNoWriMo

Happy fall everyone! We’re well into October now and the weather is starting to get cooler and the leaves are starting to change – and November and NaNoWriMo are right around the corner!

If you haven’t heard of NaNoWriMo, it’s the shortened version for National Novel Writing Month, which falls in November. It’s a pretty big thing in the writing universe and is essentially a competition with the objective to “write a book in 30 days,” which in the NaNoWriMo world is 50,000 words.

There’s a lot of chatter surrounding the month-long event and whether it’s beneficial or not for writers to participate. My personal view is there’s no right or wrong answer to this. There are certainly pros and cons to NaNoWriMo, but whether or not it will be beneficial depends on what your writing goals are and how you work best.

The “Rules” of NaNoWriMo

The “rules” of NaNoWriMo are pretty straightforward. Starting November 1st and going through November 30th, your goal is to write a 50,000-word novel. Technically, you’re not supposed to have started the novel prior to November 1st.

For those of you who are familiar with the industry standards for novels, you’re probably sitting there thinking “but 50,000 words isn’t a full novel.” While technically any work of fiction over 50,000 words is considered a novel, the industry standard for novels is closer to 80,000+ words.

So here’s the thing. NaNoWriMo is not going to give you a full, complete, ready-to-publish novel. And it’s not intended to. NaNoWriMo is designed to get you writing. The thought process is that if you can be motivated to get the words onto paper, then you have something to work with.

How often have you been paralyzed by a blank screen? It’s a lot easier to look at a rough first draft and revise it than to try starting completely from scratch. With NaNoWriMo, you’ll get that rough first draft (or most of a first draft) down on paper. And then in December, you go back and start revising.

While there are technical rules to NaNoWriMo, if these rules don’t necessarily work for you, feel free to alter them to suit your needs. For example, the first year I participated in NaNoWriMo, I had already started my manuscript and was roughly 25,000 words in. So my goal for that year was to add 50,000 words to put myself around 75,000 and extremely close, if not at, the end. 

You could also modify your word count. If 50,000 words really isn’t doable for you, set a goal that feels realistic and use the motivation of the month to get you to your own personal goal. Will you “win” NaNoWriMo? Not technically. But you’ll win by succeeding at your own goal, which is the more important factor here.

On the note of word count, however, I urge you to try to get to 50,000 words. It might seem like an impossible task at first, but if you break it down to a smaller daily goal, it gets easier. And, honestly, once you start gaining some momentum, the 50,000 words get written easier than you may have initially thought.

Is NaNoWriMo Right for You?

Whether or not NaNoWriMo is a good fit for you and your writing goals is entirely up to you. There’s no right or wrong answer. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another.

So how do you decide if you should try NaNoWriMo?

First, consider where you’re at with your current writing projects. Are you starting a new manuscript or close to the beginning? If so, NaNoWriMo might be a good option for you. If you’re on your third revision, NaNoWriMo wouldn’t make sense for you at this point.

Next, consider how you work best. Are you someone who needs a push to get moving? Do you work best with a concrete goal and a deadline? If so, NaNoWriMo could be the motivating push you need.

Even if you don’t think you have the time for the full 50,000 words, I encourage you to give it a try. You might surprise yourself.

How to Succeed at NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is all about making your writing a priority for the month. That’s it. If you can find a way to minimize your other distractions and really focus on your writing, in my opinion, you’ve “won” at NaNoWriMo.

This is the great part about NaNoWriMo. It’s not about writing a book that will win awards or even a publishing contract. It’s about simply getting the words onto the page. And all you need to do for that is prioritize your writing.

So how do we do that? I’ve talked in other posts about making your writing a priority in your daily life, and that’s a great start. But for NaNoWriMo, when faced with the task of writing 50,000 words in one month, you may need to up your game a bit more. To meet this challenge, I have a few tips for you.

1. Start by acknowledging that this is a goal you want to achieve.

You’re setting your mind to writing 50,000 words in one month. Awesome! Now, why do you want to do that? Write out your why. It can be anything – maybe it’s because you just want to know if you can do it, maybe it’s because you’ve hit a wall with your writing and need something to push you past it – whatever your reason, write it out.

2. Next, come to terms with the fact that November is going to be revolving a lot around your writing.

This will probably mean sacrificing in other areas of your life. You might need to drop some coffee dates with friends (although, in this new COVID-verse, there’s probably less social dates to worry about – see, there’s good and bad to this!), you might need to plan for less involved dinners so you have more free time in the evenings, or maybe talk to your family to let them know you’ll be squirreled away with your laptop for an hour or two in the evening instead of watching TV with them. Whatever sacrifices you need to make, recognize that they’re only for a month and remember what you’re gaining in their place. At the end of 30 days, you’ll have 50,000 words drafted. That’s a pretty amazing achievement!

3. The next step is to break down your overall goal into smaller, more achievable goals.

Writing 50,000 words in 30 days is no joke. 50,000 is a huge number that can seem intimidating and daunting. But if we break that down, it’s more manageable. Do this however you think will work best for you. You could simply divide 50,000 words by 30 days and commit to writing 1,667 words per day. Or maybe you have some days during the week or month that will be easier for you to get writing time in, so you can aim for a higher word count those days and allow yourself a lower word count on other days. It doesn’t matter how you break it up, as long as you come up with a plan that will work for you.

4. Set a reward for yourself.

Beyond the pleasure of knowing you won at NaNoWriMo and the rewards NaNoWriMo offers for those who do, what’s something you can reward yourself with for succeeding with this goal? You could come up with a reward for completing the entire month, or even smaller rewards each day or week that you do well. Whatever works for you, set up a reward system and stick to it!

5. Plan out your manuscript as much (or as little) as you need to.

While you’re not technically supposed to begin your manuscript until November 1st (again, I say technically – if you’ve already started your manuscript, I see no reason you can’t still participate), there’s no rule against plotting and outlining ahead of time. If you’re the type of writer who works best with a full, extensive outline, take the time before November starts to write out the outline so you can hit the ground writing in November. If you’re more of a pantser type who works best by “just writing the damn thing,” then this is an amazing opportunity for you to just start writing come November 1st. There are no right or wrong ways to prepare for NaNoWriMo. The best way is the way that works for you.

Bonus Tip: Have fun!

This is the biggest tip I can offer you for NaNoWriMo success. At the end of the day, NaNoWriMo is about having fun and getting some writing done. If you’re not having fun, you’ll be miserable. Of course, there will be some days the writing will be hard. There will be days you’ll want to abandon your goal and give up completely. But if you can find some fun and joy in the process, it’ll be easier to motivate yourself on those tough days. Remember your overall goal, remember why you want to achieve this particular goal, and then remind yourself that the most important part is that you get some writing done.

At the end of the day, NaNoWriMo is really about pushing us to prioritize our writing and find time for it amidst our busy schedules. It’s about setting a goal that seems difficult to reach and then finding ways to meet that goal in spite of our other obligations. And this is precisely why I am an advocate of NaNoWriMo. If nothing else, it shows us that we have more time for our writing than we think we do if we are willing to make it a priority. And as a writing coach who’s hope for you is that you’ll prioritize your writing and find the time for it, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the month of November.

While I won’t be joining in the NaNoWriMo fun this year since we’re expecting our first baby November 12th, I’m rooting for all of you who are participating and wishing you a ton of success! Let me know what your plans for NaNoWriMo are in the comments. And if you need a little extra encouragement during or after November, please reach out to me about one-on-one coaching to see how this can help you make progress with your writing.