Everything you need to know about the national novel writing month challenge
This post is all about NaNoWriMo.
If you’ve ever dreamt of writing a novel, you’ve probably heard of NaNoWriMo.
The truth is, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a great writing challenge to accelerate the process of turning a story idea into a first draft.
If you’re thinking of trying your first NaNoWriMo, you’ll want to make sure you go in with a good understanding of what you’ll be getting yourself into throughout the month of November. NaNoWriMo is fun, but it’s also called a challenge for a reason!
This post will break down everything you need to know about NaNoWriMo.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll earn a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Our full disclosure policy is pretty boring, but you can read it here.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
1. You must write at least 50,000 words of your novel between November 1 and November 30.
2. Anything you’ve written before November 1 doesn’t count towards your NaNoWriMo word count, but you can still prep ahead of time by creating character profiles, backstories, outlines, and research. I recommend grabbing this Complete Novel Planning Workbook Bundle to help with that!
3. You personally have to write all 50,000 words (so if you’re writing a novel with someone, you would each have to write 50,000 words).
4. You must be at least 13 years old to participate through the official NaNoWriMo website. If you’re under 17, you can join the Young Writer’s Program.
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR NANOWRIMO:
NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit organization that runs on donations. It’s completely free to sign up as a writer!
Let’s sign up together!
1. Go to NaNoWriMo.org and click “Sign Up”. This is the official website of NaNoWriMo.
This is the start of the process to sign up so you can be an official part of the challenge and become a “NaNoWriMo Winner” if you successfully write all 50,000 words.
2. Submit your email address, create a username & password, and review the Terms & Conditions.
3. Verify your email address by following the instructions that pop up.
If it’s not November yet, you’ll see a countdown like the one pictured above. Click “Join with a new novel” and it will prompt you to input information about your novel. You can follow the prompts and add information about your novel, set writing goals, and play around with the dashboard to get familiar with it!
WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR NANOWRIMO?
You don’t need anything special for NaNoWriMo – you’re welcome to use Google Docs, Microsoft Word, your notes app, or really whatever you want to write your 50,000 words.
But, if you’re really serious about writing a novel and want to take it to the next level, here are a couple tools I’d recommend:
Scrivener: Scrivener is a tool that will help you organize and write your writing project. It has a word counter and gives you the ability to restructure and revise your ideas as you go. Click here to sign up for Scrivener.
My Complete Novel Planning Workbook: Three workbooks and 200+ pages of pre-writing guidance will help you plan all the details you need to know about your novel in order to breeze through those 50,000 words. Click here to get the full workbook.
WHY DO NANOWRIMO?
1. It’s a win-win
Think about it this way:
Even if you don’t finish your entire novel by November 30th, having the huge goal of 50,000 words means you’re sure to make progress on your novel even if you technically “fail” by not hitting 50,000 words.
For example:
If you aim to write 50,000 words between November 1st and 30th but you only end up writing 30,000 words, you still wrote THIRTY THOUSAND WORDS! That’s incredible!
2. Your writing will improve
You’re bound to become a better writer throughout the course of National Novel Writing Month.
Having a monthly goal of writing a 50,000-word draft means that you also have to set daily word count goals. With the focus on word count, you won’t have much time to worry about revising and editing your work – you just have to keep writing. This essentially becomes a built-in way of dealing with writer’s block because the nature of this writing challenge doesn’t give you time to even worry about how good your writing is. If you want to hit those 50,000 words, you just have to keep writing!
If you want to improve your writing not only during NaNoWriMo, but also afterwards, sign up for the waitlist to grab my writing course Write On Track as soon. as it launches!
3. Having built-in daily goals will help you find your writing style
When you’re writing 50,000 words in a month, you have to have built-in goals to achieve that end result.
50,000 words in one month breaks down to about 1667 words per day.
This means you’ll need to focus less on stressing over how “good” your writing is, and more on just getting that word count done. This sounds counterproductive, but over the course of the month, this practice of non-stop writing will help you solidify your voice and style as a writer.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WIN?:
“Winning” NaNoWriMo means that you’ve written 50,000 words by the end of November. Once you’ve entered your 50,000 word count into NaNoWriMo, they’ll send you to a “Winners Page” where you’ll get a certificate, a special congratulations from the HQ staff, and some product codes from various NaNoWriMo sponsors to offer you tools that will help you continue your writing journey.
Remember that the purpose of NaNoWriMo is less about winning a prize and more about increasing your confidence, progress, and skills as a writer. Later on in this post, I’ll talk more about how to find your purpose as a writer… and in my opinion, NaNoWriMo is a great way to accomplish that!
TOP TIPS ON HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED DURING NANOWRIMO:
1. Always focus on taking the first step
I can almost guarantee that you won’t feel inspired to write every single day of NaNoWriMo.
But nobody ever wrote a book because they felt inspired every day (or if they have, they definitely had some sort of superpower that the rest of us don’t).
To stay motivated during NaNoWriMo, you have to focus on just taking the first step every day. 50,000 words per month starts with 1667 words per day… and 1667 words per day starts with one word at a time.
Always remember… Just focus on that next word.
2. Do a little preparation before you start
Having a general idea of your story’s concept is great, but it’ll be a lot easier to write 50,000 words if you’ve done a little preparation.
The good news is, I have a tool that will help you lay out all the information you need to plan out your novel successfully and conquer those 50,000 words in one month.
Click here to download my complete novel planning workbook bundle. These workbooks give you over 200 pages of guidance on the exact things you need to focus on to write a successful novel.
If you’re not ready to dive in that deep yet, you can start by just looking at your plot. Here’s my free workbook Plotting Prodigy – you can download it now.
3. Make writing prompts that are specific to your story for when you get stuck
When you get stuck (and I can almost guarantee you will), it’s really helpful to have some writing prompts that will get you back on track with your 50,000 words.
I could give you some generic writing prompts, but it’s better to have prompts that are actually based off your unique story so that they help propel you forward instead of just giving you a mundane writing exercise that you’re never going to look at again.
I’m going to give you a really great hack for this one that I think every aspiring writer should know:
Ask ChatGPT to create writing prompts for you that relate directly to your story!
All you need to do is give ChatGPT a little information about where you’re at in your story, and it’ll come up with prompts that will get your creative juices flowing on your specific story.
Here are some examples:
- Give me 10 writing prompts that relate to my novel. It’s about a girl who wakes up in a fantastical world and realizes she has no family or friends, so she goes on a quest to find them.
- Give me 10 writing prompts to help me figure out what comes next in my novel. The last scene I wrote was about a 6 year old boy who goes to a private school that got bullied for not knowing how to play baseball.
- Give me 10 writing prompts to help me figure out how the main character in my novel is currently feeling. He’s a 6th grade student who just watched his best friend humiliate himself at the school talent show, and I need to figure out what he would say next.
Giving ChatGPT prompts with some information about your story will help give it the information it needs to spit back some writing prompts that will take you to the next level in your story.
Wouldn’t it be so cool if ChatGPT helped you come up with your next plot twist or got you to that next phase in your creative process?!
4. Let your love of writing fuel you
The truth is, nobody challenges themselves to do NaNoWriMo unless they love writing… and I think I can safely assume that you’re no different.
You love writing. You love the idea that by the end of November, you could have a whole 50,000-word novel with words of fiction that only YOU could have written.
Hang onto that feeling, because you might get tired, frustrated, and burnt out throughout this process. But you’ll feel SO accomplished, proud, confident, and productive once you’ve seen the whole month through.
It’s easy to lose sight of what you love when it gets hard and exhausting. But hold onto your deep love of writing because that is what will fuel you throughout this process.
5. Keep distraction-free writing sessions
It’s a good idea to keep your writing sessions distraction-free as much as you can.
Here are some ways to keep distraction-free writing sessions:
- Turn off or put away your phone
- Work in a quiet place
- Wake up early for your writing sessions (or if you’re not a morning person, stay up late to get some peace & quiet)
- Turn on instrumental music only or turn off music entirely
- Set a timer or use the pomodoro technique to pace yourself
6. Change up your environment often
Building up a good writing habit doesn’t necessarily mean your writing routine has to look the exact same every single day.
It’s important to learn how to romanticize your writing journey, especially during NaNoWriMo. And before you dismiss that advice as cliche, trust me – changing up your environment can make a huge impact.
Here are some ideas of where you could go to experience a new writing environment:
- Local coffee shops
- Your local library
- If the weather is good where you live, go outside to a park or garden
- Find a new area of your house (instead of writing at your desk, try cozying up on the couch)
- A friend’s house
- A museum or art gallery
- A local university or college campus
7. Join NaNoWriMo forums
NaNoWriMo is hard work, and sometimes it’s helpful to connect with fellow writers who will help keep you motivated and make you feel less alone.
There are tons of NaNoWriMo forums you can join directly on NaNoWriMo.org. There are forums based on age group, region, different facets of identity, and lots more. You can find a list and breakdown of different NaNoWriMo forums here.
A great forum to start with is “A Newbies Guide to NaNoWriMo (or, an FAQ)”. You’ll find answers to tons of questions that you might have in your first year of NaNoWriMo. Here are some examples of the questions this forum answers:
- What happens when you win NaNoWriMo?
- Where can I get feedback or critique on my work?
- I’m doing terribly and I need motivation. Where can I find it?
- I am brand new! Where should I even start getting familiar with the forums?
8. Understand the goal of NaNoWriMo
Yes, it’s about writing a 50,000-word novel… but that’s just a surface-level goal.
Figure out what the goal is for YOU. What is the deeper purpose behind joining NaNoWriMo?
Is it because your story idea will have an impact on someone once it’s finally published? Is your story communicating something near and dear to you? What is the bigger purpose and vision behind you wanting to write a novel?
Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself to uncover your purpose as a writer:
- What do I want my readers to feel by the end of this book/story/project?
- Would those feelings produce certain actions or behaviors in them, and if so, what would those be?
- In what ways does this story communicate my deep feelings and thoughts? What are those feelings and thoughts?
- If nobody ever read this book/novel/project, what would the impact be?
- What would the world be lacking if this novel didn’t exist?
These are uncomfortable questions to ask, but it’s important to understand your deep purpose in writing this novel if you want to stay motivated throughout!
9. Follow helpful writing accounts on social media
Especially if it’s your first year doing NaNoWriMo, it can be helpful to follow writing accounts on social media that will teach you how to better your writing skills and will also inspire you to keep going.
As a writing coach, I share all kinds of creative writing tips on my Instagram and TikTok account to help you write the most compelling novel possible. You can click here to follow me on Instagram and click here to follow me on TikTok.
There are tons of accounts on social media that are dedicated to teaching great writing tips and skills that will keep you in the writing mindset even when you’re scrolling.
10. Think about what you want your readers to feel when they finish your novel
NaNoWriMo is about more than just writing 50,000 words by the end of the month. It’s also important to get clarity on what you want your readers to feel when they finish your NaNoWriMo novel.
This relates back to the importance of finding your purpose as a writer. Understanding what your readers will be feeling throughout your novel will keep you motivated because it’ll keep your focus on the impact and greater purpose of your story!
11. Focus on your writing habits, not the quality of your work
During NaNoWriMo, you really don’t have time to focus on the quality of your work.
That might sound counterintuitive, but in order to get through those 50,000 words, you really just need to keep writing.
Don’t think about that as a bad thing. You can always go back and revise later (once November is over) to improve the quality of your writing and fix any holes in your story. But in order to get to that point, you need to have those 50,000 words on the page so that you have written content to work with and revise later on.
A first draft is just that: a first draft. And the whole point of NaNoWriMo is getting those words on the page so that you have a first draft. Once that’s there, you can work towards turning that first draft into a second draft and eventually a final, published version.
Will you be trying NaNoWriMo this year?
This post was all about NaNoWriMo.
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