O.C. Writers

By Andrea Lewis // 

By the time you read this post, you will either be at the start of a second week of feverish writing, fully immersed into creating the novel that you’ve always wanted to write, conversing with other Wrimos (as participants are sometimes called) on different aspects of this writing marathon, or, if you are new to the concept (which is what I was before diving into reading as much as possible about this event) you may be wondering, what in the world is NaNoWriMo? The acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month.

Whatever the case, my goal for this article was to learn and share about NaNoWriMo, and to provide tips and resources that will keep your imagination and energy fueled to complete the race with a first draft of your novel in your hands, should you decide to dive in.

Disclaimer: As you can already tell, I have not yet tried a NaNoWriMo challenge. However, doing the research on it gave me the opportunity to reflect and practice some of the NaNo-like aspects of the writing process. As to my writing a novel—I’ll keep you posted!

1. What is NaNoWriMo?

According to the editors at Reedsy, NanoWriMo is “an annual event in which participants commit to writing a 50,000-word novel between November 1^st and 30^th.” It began in 1999 as a “challenge among friends,” and has grown into “a global marathon with hundreds of thousands of participants each year.”

The home of all resources for this program is the NaNoWriMo website. According to it, NaNoWriMo is “internet-famous,” having hosted drafting novels that later became famous. Water for Elephants is just one of the many examples. In short, “whatever you thought NaNoWriMo is, it’s more than that.”

To enroll and participate in NaNoWriMo-related activities, writers sign up here.

2. Rules

According to Reedsy, “Starting after midnight local time on November 1^st, writers begin drafting a new novel (or a fresh re-write of an old one) and must attempt to finish before the end of the month.”

Here is a short list of rules, extracted from the Reedsy article mentioned above:

• Planning and outlining beforehand are allowed and even encouraged
• You will need to write 1,667 words per day
• Once you hit the 50,000-word mark, you can upload your novel on the NaNoWriMo website to verify your word count
• Winners get banners and certificates to display if they choose to do so.

 

3. What’s in it for the participants?

Why would writers from around the world put themselves under the pressure of writing 50,000 words in one month? Reasons vary, but the main one is that they all want to write and complete their work, and, perhaps, struggle with finding the time, or developing a discipline of including writing into their daily schedules. Within NaNoWriMo, they relate to the individuals sharing the same passion and difficulties. However, at the end of the race, they leave as novelists. The three main driving factors, as identified by the editors at Reedsy, are:

• It helps writers develop the discipline to sit down, turn off their inner editor, and work.
• The practice of writing so much so fast can only improve writing skills.
• NaNoWriMo turns a solitary struggle into a collective event that is not limited to your neighborhood or town, but now global, where writers learn from each other, within a knowledgeable community.

 

4. Who participates?

Writers from all walks of life and from any corner of the world can participate. Not everyone is a full-time writer, and not everyone will want to publish. Some write for the joy of writing and their stories are just as important to them, as to the NaNoWriMo community.

 

5. What makes it work

NaNoWriMo brings together writers from around the world in November, but, as Grant Faulkner exemplifies, the idea is not new. Writers need the company of other writers to fuel their creativity: “Virginia Woolf had nights of conversation with her spirited Bloomsberry crowd,” “Hemingway sought the creative energy of Paris in 1920s,” while when C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien first met, they were “just two men with a writing hobby.” Solitude, as a writer, plays an important part: without distractions, we are able to put more words on the page. However, sometimes, tuning into a discussion forum or joining other writers writing in a coffee shop may be just as productive.

“Studies have shown that being surrounded by industrious strangers can increase focus and spur creativity,” advises Faulkner. It may also boost motivation.

For this, writing/writers’ communities have been created: write-ins organized by NaNoWriMo’s Municipal Liaison, “cafés where people gather to write together, trade tips, and divulge war stories.” When in-person write-ins are not possible, as we have just experienced this for over a year now, online forums provide the same amount of discussions: Character Café, Plot Doctoring, and YouTube write-ins have now become a thing.

Being part of this community has many benefits:

• Meeting regularly to write with others keeps creativity flowing, but it also keeps writers accountable
• NaNoWriMo participants are cheerleaders for one another, as they congratulate others on amazing word counts and word sprint speeds, they remind slower Wrimos that every word they write counts, and they recognize milestones along the way.
• Recognition is critical for success, because any book is, in the end, defined by the community of writers to which it belongs.

  

6. Resources / Tools for participants

Resources abound—once you open this Pandora’s box, they surface one by one: blogs, self-help websites for writers, the main resource remaining the website of the NaNoWriMo community. If you are already subscribed to any such online tools, chances are that you have already received articles with reminders, tips and what-not about the daunting month of November in the life of writers around the planet. Below are just a few of them—also my resources for this article.

Writers’ Digest – features essays from Executive Director of NaNoWriMo, Grant Faulkner, on everything that writing a 50,000-word draft implies: preparation, writing, what happens after.   

ProWritingAid – host free webinars featuring Grant Faulkner, and keep their audience informed on any NaNoWriMo events, with tools of their own community to support the efforts of writers subscribed to ProWritingAid.

Reedsy – features articles, webinars, YouTube videos and live write-ins about NaNoWriMo, and email their subscribers periodic reminders and tips throughout the preparation months, as well as through the entire process.

The NaNoWriMo Website offers in depth information and courses on all the aspects of the process. As in any DIY, preparation is key, and the website outlines the process in an entire course that takes place weeks before November 1^st.

 

7. NaNoWriMo How To

In an article featured on Writer’s Digest, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo, Grant Faulkner guides writers through the three main stages of the event (before, during and after) so that they make the most of it, and come out successful. The advice in “Your NaNoWriMo Survival Guide” has been replicated by many writers’ blogs and websites.

BEFORE – PREPARATION IS KEY

Grant Faulkner, Executive Director at NaNo, compares this challenge with” an extreme sport that combines sprint, marathon, mountain climbing, wrestling match.” No athlete enters a competition without training. Consequently, most writers enter this challenge after a time of preparation.

Tips:

1. Tell friends and family that you are doing NaNoWriMo for several reasons:

• • it will hold you accountable
  • you risk public embarrassment if you do not commit and write
  • you may get help with other aspects of life so you can have time to write

2. FIND THE TIME TO WRITE – I wrote this in all caps intentionally, because not all who write are full-time writers, yet the passion to write is there and begs to be given priority. It also helps if you treat your writing as a job.
   • Since writing 1,667 words a day takes an average of two hours, Faulkner advises keeping track (with notes) of how you spend your time. Identify what you can cut, to make room for the two hours of daily writing.

The editors at Reedsy have developed a quiz that can help you discover the pockets of time to squeeze in your writing activity. I took the quiz and found that the advice they gave on how and where I could try to fit in my writing sprints was realistic. It is up to me how I stick to it. Immediately after taking the quiz, I have received emails with prompts, help and guidance.

• • Set ground rules in advance of November – decide whether you plan on writing on holidays or Sundays.
  • Try writing in several shorter “sprints” per day – much like athletic drills, where you train your sit-down-and-write muscles.
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• 3. Don’t over- or underprepare your outline: when it is too detailed, it may limit you, and you may miss an idea that you may have not considered fully. Faulkner advises writers to spend October in “casual rumination,” taking notes, then writing at full speed in November. Reedsy writers merge their advice with Faulkner’s on creating the outline, and add somore tips:

• • Write a single sentence story concept before you start to define the protagonist and their goal
  • Write chapter by chapter outline
  • Plot only the most important scenes on the “skeleton outline”
  • Research and build the world of your novel – plan on the backstory, geography, and culture; research takes time and November is for writing
  • Let your characters determine the story – well-developed characters are key to a story; know them well, to make them powerful.

 

4. Choosing what to write about in the preparation stages is also emphasized by Reedsy authors:
   • Find a story you absolutely love and write it
   • Understand what people like to read, by reading contemporary publications in your genre and age target
   • Create strong characters – know them intimately, spend time with them (learn more on Character Development)

 

DURING – ‘BANISH YOUR INTERNAL EDITOR’

1. This is the time to “let your imagination loose, write boldly and revise later,” advises Faulkner, which merges with the recommendation from the editors at Reedsy on giving yourself the permission to be imperfect:
   • Don’t be afraid of mistakes – they often result in inspiration
   • Trust your characters
   • Use this opportunity to experiment a little, no one needs to see your first draft, so play on the page.
2. “Hope for the best, plan for the worst” – Faulkner recommends that we take advantage of the first week, when imagination seems to enjoy being let loose. We should write all we can and get ahead of our word count, because the second week is known as “a black hole in NaNoWriMo lore,” and we should plan to get through it.
3. “Write to the end of the story:” this is the first draft, and it will be far from perfect. Faulkner advises writing through it, at least the backbone that can be filled in later. Any scenes that you don’t want to forget should be inserted.

In case you get stuck, or find yourself in a writer’s block, you can:

4. Conquer writer’s block by:
   • Skip the scene where you are stuck and come back to it later. While you are taking a break, “read, let your mind wander through other worlds. Or, try skipping to the scene that you were planning to write, then go to the next fun part,” advises Grant Faulkner. This process is called skipnovelling by some.
   • Be kind to yourself when you cannot write
   • Use dialogue to unblock yourself
5. Faulkner suggests that we find our inner seducer: “remember who you are wooing, give them your heart in the end.”
6. Motivate yourself with social validation, advise the editors at Reedsy:
   • Join online groups or start your own, to post your daily word count
   • You can join before, stay active during, and keep it going afterwards
7. Reedsy’s tips on fiction writing to get un-stuck:
   • Help the reader “see” the world you have created
   • Tell the story clearly
   • Follow the next logical step in your story: at every point in every story, something has to happen for that tale to function. Writing what must happen, generates momentum.

 

AFTER – FINISHING THE FIRST DRAFT

Grant Faulkner recommends that the conclusion of the 30 days of intense writing, it is important to:

1. Keep the momentum going:

• You have spent 30 days in creativity, don’t let it go.
• Take a break for a week if you need, then go back and keep writing after that.

2. Form a writing group, or join one:

• Once you have signed up for NaNoWriMo, you have joined a community that shares the same passion and struggle, so, keep meeting!
• Encouragement breeds more encouragement
• These partners also make great beta readers, and you can be one, as well, which gives you a different perspective on writing.

3. Don’t fear revision

• Revision is just as creative and playful as writing a first draft
• Take advantage of resources available in NaNoWriMo to help with revision and the “after” process

Reedsy’s tips on revision:

1. Put the draft away for a while – a week, a month, but then go back and revise, revise, revise. After a break, you will see it with fresh eyes.
2. Use beta readers or critique circles.
3. Don’t get an editor for your first draft – you will be paying someone for work that you can do yourself. Therefore, re-work the manuscript as best as you can.
4. Re-read the first and last chapter side-by-side: compare your original intentions with where your story ended up, see if your tone has shifted.
5. Read your manuscript aloud – make sure it flows well and is easily understood by readers.
6. Reduce repetition and excessive description – analyze the message of each sentence, keep them simple.
7. Let the twists and turns of your plot be revealed in the action

 

What I have learnt from this research, is that taking part in NaNoWriMo is transformational. It builds a mindset that enables writers to see a novel through, from beginning stages till the end. Grant Faulkner talks about building the grit which implies “persistence, passion, optimism and hope.” If you have participated in NaNoWriMo, or are doing it this November, drop your comments here, share with us your experience. You never know, this may motivate others to start this regimen on any given month!

 

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ANDREA LEWIS lives and writes in Huntington Beach. She was born in Romania and moved to the United States at the age of 34, after meeting and marrying her husband. She writes memoir and personal essays, with a recent attempt at freeform poetry. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times.