“Wat! Ek moet mal wees, 50 000 woorde! End dit vir niks? Ek kan skaars 20 sinne by mekaar krap. Dit sal jy wees wat so mal is!” – says my mom to me after I told her that I’m considering signing up for Nanowrimo.
Now I’m sure some of you are like, “NANOWHAT?!”, exactly my reaction when I read about it in Surviving Jonkersville blog a week ago. I actually thought it MUST be a computer game of some sorts. Then I turned to my old friend Google…
Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month, November 1 – 30. You sign up and write a novel in 30 days. You commit to a minimum of 50 000 words. 50 000!!
Well, I’m seriously considering signing up. I already drafted a storyline, or to be more accurate, three sentences! But I have it all in my head, my only concern is, 50 000 words! And, the reality of my life – working full time and parenting two, and volunteering AND then of course, sleeping…eating…cleaning, cooking, no wait – I don’t do domestics!
“Kai do you think I can write 50 000 words in a month”
“Yes. And what do you win?”
“Nothing. I will have to write 50 000 words, create a storybook in one month, in November. Do you think I can do it”
“I’m telling you, just do it. What will the name of your story be?”
“I don’t know…”
And well, this is where my conversation ended with my son. Bless his sweet soul, he has such confidence in me! A seed has been planted, maybe it will grow and bloom in November. Only time will tell…
Have you written a novel or did you participate and complete Nanowrimo? Do you have any tips?
There are so many tips, too many to share in a comment. Don’t stress over the quality for now, keep notes on issues you have while writing or things you want to fix later. Write in sprints (shorter sessions at a time) with breaks, even if just a quick break, in between. Do word wars if you can–setting a time limit with at least one other writer and comparing how many words you both wrote during that time limit afterwards. Get a handle on your story now, whether you write a whole outline or just have a beginning and end in mind, so you don’t have to stop to think much during the writing.
Those are the first ones to pop into my mind, but there are a lot of tips and tricks that can help! I’ve been posting some on my blog throughout the last several weeks, as have many others. NaNo can be stressful or scary if you let it, but it can definitely be fun, inspirational, and a catapult to future writing discipline.
Good luck with your first NaNo!
Thanks so much for these tips! I’m definitely setting sometime aside this weekend to do more research and read some of your tips on your blog!
Thanks for the tips Kristi. I’ll be checking out your tips too. 🙂
You can do it!!!
Still thinking about it…
Wish I could give you some good tips on finishing it but I can’t. Still trying to finish last year’s one. Anyhoo, I completely agree with all of Kristi’s points. It’s basically a sum of everything I didn’t do and spending too much time thinking of the story leads to procrastination and you won’t finish on time. Winging it is a definite no-no.
This year I’ve joined in with the Cape Town region group chats and the camaraderie is amazeballs. I’ve decided on a fun experience instead of an overwhelming one.
Hope you join in. You will be great 🙂
Thanks Celeste, I’m going to read more tips over the weekend and make a decision then…
I’ve completed Nano once, though I’ve taken part several times. I was considering doing it this year, but I know I don’t have the time.
Melanie, thanks, which year did you complete Nano and how did you manage you time?
2008. It was before I got married and had kids, so I actually had personal time. 🙂