What NaNoWriMo taught (or reminded) me

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For those who don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month. Each year since 1999, people from all over the world have been participating in the challenge to write 50,000 words of a new novel in the 30 days of November. Over the years, the number of people participating has grown into the hundreds of thousands, though not all of them are working on a new novel. Many have tweaked this challenge to fit their needs and goals. For example, some choose to write in multiple works or as a continuation of a novel they have already started. Participants are encouraged to do as much planning as they want before the month starts, but only words written during the month count toward their total.

I’ve been aware of NaNoWriMo, as it’s called, for several years, but this was the first year I participated. It started as a mere inkling of an idea at first. I wasn’t serious about doing it. I made the mistake of posting about the possibility of participating on my website. Then an old acquaintance from high school, now also a writer, popped up and said “Hey, I’ll be your writing buddy.” Suddenly, it got serious. I was in and committed to writing the words. No takesy backsies.

I decided that since I was neck deep in edits for my current novel, I did not want to start a new one. So instead, I pulled out five short story ideas and planned to write on those. Also, to help my virgin NaNoWriMo experience go as easily as possible, I included any articles I wrote for my blog and my morning pages toward my word count. The whole point of this exercise was for me to prove to myself that I can, in fact, be that productive. I struggle to write sometimes. Mostly it’s just about getting my butt in the chair, and I wondered if I had an outside influence pushing me whether it would be easier to commit to sitting down and writing.

To prepare for this gargantuan undertaking, I took advantage of October, a.k.a. Preptober, to plan. I read from other former participants that creating rewards for milestones is an effective way to stay motivated. So, I planned what my rewards for 10k, 20k, 30k, 40k, and winning would be. A new volume of my favorite manga, a hardcover copy of the Last Herald Mage omnibus, $25 worth of new bullet journal supplies, a night on the town, and a daytrip, respectively. I also came up with strategies to keep myself on track and to head off excuses.

To win the challenge, you need to write an average 1667 words per day, assuming you write every day. I knew I wasn’t going to write every day. There were days in the month that I had other things going on and knew I wouldn’t get words in. To compensate for that, I calculated how many actual words I would have to write a day assuming I planned on zero days for those days. My weighted daily total turned out to be 2173.

Then I decided, for the first time, to plot my stories to eliminate slowdowns while I’m trying to come up with scenes. I am a total pantser, so this was definitely a first for me, but others were suggesting it, so I ran with it.

November 1st rolled around, and I was off. Turned out I did write every day. Once I committed, there was no stopping me. Some days were more difficult than others. Some I really didn’t want to write, but I did it anyway. Overall, I’m incredibly happy with the result. I hit the 50k word mark on November 24th and bolstered by the win, decided to continue on to see just how many words I could get. I capped out the month at 61,624 words.

So… what did I learn?

1) 50,000 words is a huge, honky number. It was intimidating, but by breaking it into the smaller daily chunks, I was able to tackle it with minimal awe.

Applied to life: A lot of people don’t make the huge, day-dream goals. They seem too big, too ridiculous, and too impossible. The jump from where you are to where you want to get is heart-wrenchingly vast. It’s scary, so we go for the smaller win. The littler, seemingly more reasonable goal. But if we take those huge, crazy goals and break them into manageable chunks, then worry about getting the day-to-day actions done, we will, eventually, get there.

Don’t shy away from the huge goals, just remember to tackle it one day at a time. Consistency and perseverance are forces of nature, just ask the river and wind that carved out the Grand Canyon.

2) As I mentioned before, I am a pantser. For me, that means my stories come to me as a burst of inspiration. A scene, a character, a line of dialogue, and I build the story around that. I do not plot. I do not world build ahead of time. I tend not to flesh out characters. This leads to a lot of ‘writing’ time when I am literally staring off into space trying to figure something out. The story often comes to me in fits and bursts. I bounce all over the place. Sometimes the first thing I write turns out to be the ending. Sometimes it’s a mundane moment somewhere in the middle. Sometimes it’s the climax (literally as I write a lot of romance). The first draft is always horrible. There are huge plot holes everywhere and continuity issues abound. Character’s personalities change until I get a handle on them and whole pieces of dialogue must be re-written to reflect who they really are.

So, to avoid all that, and because a lot of people suggested it, I decided I would try doing a lot of the work ahead of time. I wrote an outline for each of the five stories I planned to work on. I planned scenes and figured out the major conflict and how it would resolve. I wrote out character descriptions and did a fair bit of world building prep. I felt so ready. More prepared than I’ve ever been to write.

Never again…

I think I scrapped 90% of it because the story took me in a different direction that I thought it would, my characters turned out to not be who I thought they were, and they behaved in ways I could never have predicted. Not only that, but a lot of it felt so stunted I know it will take major re-writes anyway. All that time I took to plan and very little to show for it.

For me, turns out, the act of fumbling through the scenes is my most efficient way of writing. It is a discovery process. I don’t know who my characters are until they surprise me as I’m writing out their dialogue. I don’t really understand the motivations behind scenes until I’m writing them.

Applied to life: Just because a lot of others tell you another way works better, doesn’t mean it works better for you. AND just because something works better for you, doesn’t mean it will for someone else. Find a process that works for you, however unpopular, and rock it. Own it. And respect other’s processes as well.

3) I was very ambivalent about participating in the challenge when I was first thinking about it. I wanted to, but at the same time it sounded like a hassle to me. If I hadn’t committed to be a buddy writer, I probably would have backed out. If I hadn’t told my family and if they weren’t as supportive, I wouldn’t have gone through with it.

Applied to life: Sometimes having a cheerleader makes all the difference. Sometimes things seem like too much pressure, or burdensome because they are too big. You know, all the excuses we use because we are having self-doubt. Worrying that we can’t do it. Worrying that we would let ourselves down… again. Which leads me to #4.

4) I wrote 61k+ words in 30 days. At the beginning of the month, I had doubts I would even hit the 50k mark.

Applied to life: I am capable of so much more than I think I am. It’s hard to see it when a mountain is staring me in the face, but when I think back on where I was ten years ago? It’s remarkable what I’ve accomplished.

- I finished a master’s degree

- I’ve completed the first draft of a novel

- I started a website

- I got brave enough to let others read my writing (this is a deceptively big one)

- I got honorable mention in a worldwide writing competition

- I’ve put my words out in platforms where potentially millions have access to them.

And that’s just a sample. Look how far I’ve come. I still have a long way to go to where I want to be, but it doesn’t feel so daunting when I can line up my accomplishments.

Final thoughts

Be brave and consistent. Self-doubt, fear, and obstacles are always going to be there. Do it anyway. Use what you have. Get creative. Figure it out. Don’t let the excuse of perfection or waiting for the right time or getting all your ducks in a row keep you from starting or holding you in place. Keep moving. Even if the move is a tiny, seemingly insignificant thing, it is still a win and is worthy of being celebrated. Especially on days you feel like you just can’t.

I am already making my 2022 goals. I’m not going to lie it’s scary. It feels daunting and complicated and like so much work. My first instinct is to put it back in the box and wait for when I’m feeling more up to it to pull it all out again. But I’m not falling for it this year. Instead, I’m swinging for the fences. I’m going to trust my processes and I’m going for it, even if it’s a tiny step at a time. Will I make it? Who knows? But I’m trying anyway. Maybe I’ll look back in five years and think ‘remember when I won NaNoWriMo the first time? That felt so big, but it wasn’t so bad. Besides, look where I am now.’