NaNoWriMo: Tips and Tricks

November is officially National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and as an aspiring author and someone who is partaking in NaNoWriMo for November, I thought I'd share some tips and tricks with you.

If you're not a writer - aspiring or current - or someone who knows writers, you may not know what NaNoWriMo is. But I'm here to tell you.

Essentially, NaNoWriMo is 30 days where you sit down with your pad and pen, or a computer, and you write part of a novel. By the end of the 30 days, if you follow the exact NaNoWriMo rules, you will have 50,000 words of a story written.

There is the NaNoWriMo website that if you sign up to it, you can keep track of your progress each day and earn little badges along the way. For example, if you complete a writing streak of seven days, you'll earn the badge for writing each day for a whole week.

Now, being an aspiring author, I'd heard of NaNoWriMo before. And last year actually, I decided to participate in the challenge.

However, I didn't sign up to the website and I didn't get very far in the grand scheme of things.

But this year is different.

2023 is the year I'm sticking to NaNoWriMo. I've signed up to the website and have written part of my novel each day since the first of November. Even last night when it was gone 10pm and I was in bed, I made sure I wrote something for NaNoWriMo to keep my streak going; it wasn't much, around 200 words, but it still counts.

And with me trying to stick to the schedule of writing each day, I've come across some challenges in the last week. It got me thinking about others who are taking part in NaNoWriMo and have struggled as well, or perhaps people who wanted to take part but found it daunting and haven't joined the challenge.

I wanted to share some tips I've found useful whilst completing NaNoWriMo to help others interested in the challenge.

Schedule a time

NaNoWriMo requires you to write each day. If the idea of a novel is scary, you can write whatever you want - maybe a poem or just some freewriting.

But you probably won't be consistent in writing and getting words onto the page unless you schedule a time to sit down and do it.

With an everyday job, it can be difficult to find the time. Especially if you have other commitments like family etc. For me as a freelancer and part-time uni student, I can be more flexible with my working hours.

So when it comes to NaNoWriMo, I do my day's work and when it gets to about 5pm, I focus on NaNoWriMo and writing however many words I feel like writing that day.

1666 words - Not mandatory

The website of NaNoWriMo says that the goal should be 50,000 words. But that isn't mandatory.

To get 50,000 words in 30 days, you'd have to write 1666 words per day, but again, that isn't mandatory.

As an example, the highest word count I've written per day so far - 11 days into NaNoWriMo - is 700 words.

I actually started this novel I'm writing a while back and am continuing it for this month, trying to get as many words written as I can. Therefore, I'm not forcing myself to write 1666 words each day if it's a struggle.

If the words aren't flowing, if you've got a touch of writer's block, or if you're happy writing a scene of only 500 words, you don't have to try and reach the goal of 1666 words.

Anything you write is better than nothing.

No editing allowed

This has become my mantra whilst writing my first draft.

Throughout my uni studies, I've learned the importance of getting a draft down and then editing and rewriting. But I've always found myself editing as I write, which becomes very unproductive in the long term because I never progress that far with the writing.

So, for NaNoWriMo, my advice would be to get the words down. Just write - obviously, think about basic grammar and spelling etc - but try not to edit as you go.

They always say you can't edit a blank page and that is 100% true, so try to get a first draft down and once you've got that, then you can edit.

Write for you

The authors I've spoken to have always given me one piece of advice.

Write for you. Write what you want to write, not what you think others want.

And that is so important, especially when it comes to writing novels.

The amount of work that goes into planning a novel and taking it from an idea to a finished manuscript, is immense. I'm currently working on two novels, one is fantasy-dystopian and the other is YA dystopian, and the brain capacity it takes to world-build, to create authentic characters, realistic dialogue, etc, is challenging.

So, if you're participating in NaNoWriMo this month, make sure that whatever you're writing is something you want to write. If it isn't, you'll probably find it more difficult to keep at it and find the will to get words down, but if you enjoy writing the story, and love the characters and plot you've crafted, it will be far easier.

Visualise your end goal

As an aspiring author, I can't wait for the day I can - hopefully - hold a published book in my hands that has my name on it as the author.

That has been a goal of mine for so long and it is what keeps me motivated to continue writing.

If you have a similar goal in life or can visualise the endpoint that you want to achieve, it will increase your motivation and give you that drive to keep going and complete each milestone on the journey to your destination.

So with NaNoWriMo, visualise what you want to achieve by the end of the 30 days and hopefully it will make you want to continue writing and get those words down.

Embrace the challenge

NaNoWriMo is scary. It is. It isn't an easy feat. But you can do it.

If you embrace the challenge, warts and all as the saying goes, it can be a fun project to do this November.

We're just under two weeks into NaNoWriMo and if you've started the challenge already, don't let a mid-month slump get you down.

Continue writing, push forward and embrace NaNoWriMo in all its glory. The sense of accomplishment you'll feel at the end of the month, whether it's due to having a complete manuscript or setting up a habit of writing daily, will all make you feel as though you've accomplished something.

So keep writing!

If you do participate in the NaNoWriMo challenge this month, let me know in the comments how you get on.

Until next time...