Happy October! Fall is here, and that means one thing for me: NaNoWriMo season.
What is NaNoWriMo? It stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a yearly event in November where writers all around the world set out to write a 50,000-word novel in thirty days. Insane, right?
It sounds crazy, and it is, but it’s very doable! You just need to have the right tools at your fingertips.
5 Types of NaNoWriMo Participants
Not all writers are the same. Each of us approaches writing differently.
Luckily, there are lots of tools at your fingertips to help you reach your goal. Here are five different types of NaNo-ers and the tools they might use.
1. The Solitary NaNo-er
Tool to use: Worksheets.
Right around this time of year, my dad comes home from work with two binders of worksheets, one for my brother and one for me. It’s like Christmas every time. I love to blaze through those pages and pencil in the ideas I have for my plot and characters.
A simple Google search for “NaNoWriMo worksheets” will send you down the rabbit hole of inspiration. For the solitary NaNo-er, this is the perfect activity to do while curled up in bed, maybe with a fuzzy animal at your side. It’ll keep you busy for hours.
2. The Social NaNo-er
Tool to use: Write-ins.
Depending on what NaNoWriMo region you’re in, MLs (Municipal Liaisons) will help to set up write-ins in your area. Usually these events are scheduled for a couple to a few hours at a local coffee shop. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet fellow NaNo-ers and swap ideas. It’s a good mix of chatter about how much progress you’ve made as well as quiet time to write. Something about being around that many creative minds can be extremely inspiring.
If there aren’t any write-ins set up in your area, or maybe you just can’t make it to any, you can set up a virtual one! Skype in a few friends who are participating or log into a chat room. The Internet will provide solutions if you poke at it enough.
3. The Competitive NaNo-er
Tool to use: Word Wars.
This is one of my favorite activities of the month. The basic idea of a Word War is to race against the clock and see how many words you can write in that time. Sometimes you’ll go for five minutes, other times an hour. You can play against yourself to beat your previous records or compete with friends!
NaNoWriMo even has a Twitter account called @NaNoWordSprints set up for this very idea. You can almost always join a sprint that’s going on whenever you check their account.
4. The Procrastinating NaNo-er
Tool to use: Word count calendar.
It’s hard to go into a daunting challenge such as this one without any kind of plan in place. To write 50,000 words in thirty days, you have to write 1,667 words a day to stay on track. For the procrastinating NaNo-er, that can be difficult.
There are various calendars available to you through Google searches you can download and print to keep you focused. I like to tape my calendar up near my computer and put a smiley face sticker on each day I reach my goal. It’s very rewarding.
5. The First Time NaNo-er
Tool to use: Forums.
NaNoWriMo can be scary, especially for someone who’s never participated before! I was a little nervous at first, but once I started talking to people who had done it in past years, I was totally reassured. The forums can be a great place to meet people and get ideas on how to stay on track throughout the month. I met one of my best blogging friends because of the Young Writers Program forums.
Even if you aren’t a NaNo newbie, it’s still a wonderful place to hang out when you need a break from your novel. Go see what (or who) you can find!
Use the Tools You Need
You might be a mix of several of these types, too, in which case, fantastic! I know I am (mostly a mix of the social and competitive NaNo-ers). Ultimately, you should be using whatever tools you find most helpful. With all these tricks up your sleeve, it’ll be easy to reach your goal.
What kind of NaNo-er are you? What tools help you hit 50,000 words in thirty days? Let me know in the comments!
PRACTICE
What are you writing for NaNoWriMo this year? If you don’t have it planned yet, take fifteen minutes to get those wheels turning and jot down a few ideas. If you already have an idea in mind, use that time to expand on it and maybe create a plot outline or a new character.
When you're done, share your work in the comments. Don’t forget to give your fellow writers some love, too! Have fun!
What worked for us (Linda and I) last year was a cheerleader and accountability. Just two of us in our local writers group signed up for NaNoWriMo. A third member, Judy, did PAD (poem-a-day) and acted as cheerleader. At least once a day we’d email each other with word count, congrats, words of encouragement, or whatever was called for at that moment. We weren’t competing with each at any time, just cheering each other on. Linda hit 50,000 the morning of June 30. I did sometime between 6-7 pm on the same day. Not sure if there will be more of us this year or not, but we THREE will be wearing our fingers down to the knuckles come Nov 1.
I love worksheets so I’m going to look into those. Thanks!…. I am a solitary word wars( with myself mostly) to see if I can get better than I was before….. But as for 50,000 words I dont think so not this year. There are some stories I want to work on editing. As I just moved into a new place with a new love who doesn’t quite get the ‘ nano write philosophy’ yet- but he will. But while he plays video games with his boys I write, so its a win win really.
Go nanoers go
The worksheets have been helpful to me, especially as I lack discipline.
Cool. Now I know I’ll be looking into them. As of last night I had an aha moment about who my main character is and what she wanted for this story,, have been busy today getting the notes and ideas down because as I know me they will poof lost forever if I dont. Now I’m excited for Nov to get here.
Debra, I agree the worksheets are good for organization and discipline in planning. I didn’t realize how much of a planner I would become. Let’s have fun with the challenge.
Hmmmm. Sounds good. But, not ready.
I’ve done NaNo twice – first time out, I finished! Went on to edit and add 35K more words to the book. Did more editing and I currently have queries out to agents. Hopefully someone will find it as much to read as I had fun writing it. Second go at NaNo I wasn’t nearly as prepared and somewhere around 14,000 words the book began to go sideways on me. Then I got behind in word count, and . . . well, you can fill in the blanks from that point.
I skipped NaNo last year, but am doing it again this year. Am currently in the process of laying out my plot I hope to write. Wish me luck!! Incidentally, I do this at home alone – found group write-ins to be too distracting and non-productive for me. Good luck to anyone else out there taking on this challenge.
As a #4, I can confirm the value of word count calenders. I also find the word count progress graph on the NaNo website really helpful. It’s ridiculously satisfying to be able to see your progress visually
This will be my first year as a Nanowrimo participant. I am currently working on my outline and my story is continuously growing. Even though I am still in the process of outlining my story, it is gratifying to get my ideas down on paper.
When November gets underway, I will begin writing a Supernatural-Thriller. The story will have some Supernatural elements within but will most likely feel to be more in line with traditional a Spy Thriller. I’m having trouble really explaining the concept of my story without going into too much detail, but I am nevertheless excited to see how my novel turns out once I am finished!
I’m a solitary NaNo writer, by force and not by will. I live far from English writers, so I’ll depend on TWP for feedback and updates.
I think the idea of a calendar is a good one.
I haven’t started writing my plot yet, or the synopses to post on my NaNo page. I must hasten, I know.
Best of luck to all those who are participating this year. I hope you have fun and reach your goal.
How are you coming along with your preparation?
I’ve never done anything like this before, I’ve had some ideas for a story and one that I think hasn’t been written before. I’m a first timer and am incredibly nervous because lately I’ve had a hard time sitting down and writing; it feels like I’ve lost the “spark” or it could just be that I’m entirely too critical on myself. Dialog is where I believe I excel at I believe and my work would be extremely dialog heavy.
I think at some level we are all anxious about the challenge. But we are all in it together.
This will be my first time trying this challenge. I am therefore obviously a first timer and will be looking to the forums for help, encouragement, and affirmation. But I also fall into the solitary writer type and will be making use of a worksheet. I am working on resurrecting a story I started some time ago about a lawyer in Maine who finds himself in the middle of a plot to destroy a local American Indian tribe and anyone who has ever tried to help the tribe. I have been using the 10 Questions for Better Book Ideas to jump start the thought process. Just a quick question – when does the workshop begin? Lots of challenges ahead for all of us. Best wishes.