Lessons Learned From NaNoWriMo 2007
This was my first year participating in NaNoWriMo. I could have-and should have-signed up for earlier years, but I always found an excuse not to. My coursework was too intense. I was working. I was busy. This year, I had no classes and no job during November, and hence no excuses, so I took the plunge.
It seemed beyond daunting at first, but I "won": I hit the 50K goal on November 20th, well ahead of schedule, and finished the month at 75,333 words. The project's still not done, but at least I got a substantial start.
Now, I'm not saying that makes me a NaNo expert by any means. I'm a newbie, I know it, and I probably was blessed with a combination of beginner's luck and fortunate circumstances aligning. What worked for me may not work for you, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong; it just means we have different writing methods. Either way, maybe what I learned can help you-either directly or indirectly. We usually learn the most when we screw up, so sometimes having a method or tip NOT work is more helpful than anything else.
1. WRITE.
This should be self-explanatory, but it really is the most important thing. Write as long as you can as often as you can. Even if you can only sneak in 500 words on a coffee break, those are 500 words you didn't have before, and they may lead to 1500 more later in the day. Just because you only "need", on average, 1667 words per day in order to "win", that doesn't mean you have to stop there, obviously. If you can keep going, GO. Trust me: a 3000+ word day is a wonderful thing. Run with the ideas and the energy while you have them, because it'll help compensate for your low days. Think of the extra words as your safety net.
2. READ.
To me, this is another given, but it's amazing how many people don't get it. I believe it was Stephen King who said "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time to write" [pp]. I try to avoid my genre of choice whilst I'm doing intensive writing because I don't want to inadvertently absorb someone else's ideas, but that's a personal quirk. Read, and read often. I look at it as a matter of output and input: if you're increasing the amount of words you're putting out (i.e., writing), it only makes sense to increase the amount of words you take in (i.e., read). NB: This isn't a license to plagiarise. Rather, the best way to learn about writing is to read voraciously. See what you like and dislike, what you think works and what you think doesn't work. Then apply that logic to your own writing. I'm often inspired by what I read, if only in the "What if?" sense.
For me, these were the two biggies, but the following practices also helped.
3. Stop visiting your word counter.
This might seem counterproductive. After all, how can you know if you've reached your quota unless you check? But if you check too often, the writing quickly becomes a chore. I know I'd get about 500 words in before I wanted to check. Then the next time I'd check, I might be at 630, and I'd think, That's it? That's all I accomplished in that last 10 minutes? Try to wait until you hit the two-page mark before you check.
4. Use separate files.
Each day, I wrote in a new file. It made the project feel more open. I found that if I kept using the same file, I felt bound by what had come before. So after I finished that day's work, I immediately opened up a new document and saved it with the next day's date. It was a reminder, an incentive, and if I wasn't in a good mood, a guilt trip. Whatever you call it, it got me writing every day. For word count purposes, I kept a master file as well, and kept adding each day's total to it.
5. Print out your work.
Since 50K is over 100 pages, this might not be a good idea for everyone, but it doesn't feel as bad if you print every few days. I find electronic files too vague and tangential. Once I saw the mounting pile of paper, I had a better sense of my progress and felt more accomplished. It's a silly little thing, really, but sometimes just being able to hold your work makes it feel more real.
6. Post your work online.
It doesn't have to be publicly viewable. Mine isn't. But I found it helped. Not only did it give me a handy reference, but it's just another way to chart your progress and make the project seem more real.
7. Share your progress.
This sorta goes along with #5 and #6. Tell your friends how you're doing. Post at forums, whether they're the NaNo boards or not. Talk about NaNo in your blog or journal. Make it a part of your life-dialogue, and it will eventually become a habit. Plus, friends tend to offer positive reinforcement. It may be terminally dorky, but I know I was always happy when I saw my progress bar creeping forward. You can also get progress meters that you can paste in your blog or in a forum post. Make it visual: just like having a printed copy makes your work tangible, the progress bar shows you just how far you've come and can make the remaining distance seem more manageable.
8. Don't edit.
This is the one that killed me most. I'm a compulsive editor, so NOT grabbing the pages from the printer and immediately attacking them with my trusty red pen was hard to do. But if you start editing, you likely won't stop, and you'll just start critiquing every word you write. Declare December (or whenever you're done) your Novel Editing Month if you must. November (or whenever you want to write) is writing time. Don't try to wear both hats at once.
9. Connect with other NaNo participants.
I didn't actually use the forums, because I had enough NaNoing friends on my f-lists. But just reading other people's NaNo posts was reassuring. If you're having a crappy day, chances are one of your friends is too. You're not alone.
10. Stretch your limits.
Entertain ideas, characters, and plots you otherwise might not: you just may find a way to make them work. If it doesn't work, you can always take it out later. The point is to try. No one expects a NaNo draft to be publishable the second it's done. Use the freedom of the exercise to do things your inner editor would normally forbid. Try using writing practices you don't even like. Maybe you'll learn why you don't like them; conversely, maybe you'll realize you judged them unfairly and that they aren't nearly as bad as you imagined.
11. Split up your writing time.
This, more than anything else, probably saved my ass. Obviously, I had the benefit of a mostly-open schedule, but if you can do your writing in chunks rather than in one session, you'll probably get a higher word count. I found if I only had one "sit down" session in a day, I ended up with about 2000 words. But if I split it up, I'd usually get around 3000-even though the actual time I spent was probably the same. Stamina isn't finite. Try writing about 1000 words; then take a break and come back to it later. You'll probably be refreshed and full of more ideas.
12. Don't take it too seriously.
Honestly. It's meant to be fun. Unless you have an actual publishing deadline to meet, don't worry about the 50K goal. It's not the end of the world if you don't "win". The point is to write without all those nagging insecurities. Get your ideas out and deal with the mess later.
It seemed beyond daunting at first, but I "won": I hit the 50K goal on November 20th, well ahead of schedule, and finished the month at 75,333 words. The project's still not done, but at least I got a substantial start.
Now, I'm not saying that makes me a NaNo expert by any means. I'm a newbie, I know it, and I probably was blessed with a combination of beginner's luck and fortunate circumstances aligning. What worked for me may not work for you, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong; it just means we have different writing methods. Either way, maybe what I learned can help you-either directly or indirectly. We usually learn the most when we screw up, so sometimes having a method or tip NOT work is more helpful than anything else.
1. WRITE.
This should be self-explanatory, but it really is the most important thing. Write as long as you can as often as you can. Even if you can only sneak in 500 words on a coffee break, those are 500 words you didn't have before, and they may lead to 1500 more later in the day. Just because you only "need", on average, 1667 words per day in order to "win", that doesn't mean you have to stop there, obviously. If you can keep going, GO. Trust me: a 3000+ word day is a wonderful thing. Run with the ideas and the energy while you have them, because it'll help compensate for your low days. Think of the extra words as your safety net.
2. READ.
To me, this is another given, but it's amazing how many people don't get it. I believe it was Stephen King who said "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time to write" [pp]. I try to avoid my genre of choice whilst I'm doing intensive writing because I don't want to inadvertently absorb someone else's ideas, but that's a personal quirk. Read, and read often. I look at it as a matter of output and input: if you're increasing the amount of words you're putting out (i.e., writing), it only makes sense to increase the amount of words you take in (i.e., read). NB: This isn't a license to plagiarise. Rather, the best way to learn about writing is to read voraciously. See what you like and dislike, what you think works and what you think doesn't work. Then apply that logic to your own writing. I'm often inspired by what I read, if only in the "What if?" sense.
For me, these were the two biggies, but the following practices also helped.
3. Stop visiting your word counter.
This might seem counterproductive. After all, how can you know if you've reached your quota unless you check? But if you check too often, the writing quickly becomes a chore. I know I'd get about 500 words in before I wanted to check. Then the next time I'd check, I might be at 630, and I'd think, That's it? That's all I accomplished in that last 10 minutes? Try to wait until you hit the two-page mark before you check.
4. Use separate files.
Each day, I wrote in a new file. It made the project feel more open. I found that if I kept using the same file, I felt bound by what had come before. So after I finished that day's work, I immediately opened up a new document and saved it with the next day's date. It was a reminder, an incentive, and if I wasn't in a good mood, a guilt trip. Whatever you call it, it got me writing every day. For word count purposes, I kept a master file as well, and kept adding each day's total to it.
5. Print out your work.
Since 50K is over 100 pages, this might not be a good idea for everyone, but it doesn't feel as bad if you print every few days. I find electronic files too vague and tangential. Once I saw the mounting pile of paper, I had a better sense of my progress and felt more accomplished. It's a silly little thing, really, but sometimes just being able to hold your work makes it feel more real.
6. Post your work online.
It doesn't have to be publicly viewable. Mine isn't. But I found it helped. Not only did it give me a handy reference, but it's just another way to chart your progress and make the project seem more real.
7. Share your progress.
This sorta goes along with #5 and #6. Tell your friends how you're doing. Post at forums, whether they're the NaNo boards or not. Talk about NaNo in your blog or journal. Make it a part of your life-dialogue, and it will eventually become a habit. Plus, friends tend to offer positive reinforcement. It may be terminally dorky, but I know I was always happy when I saw my progress bar creeping forward. You can also get progress meters that you can paste in your blog or in a forum post. Make it visual: just like having a printed copy makes your work tangible, the progress bar shows you just how far you've come and can make the remaining distance seem more manageable.
8. Don't edit.
This is the one that killed me most. I'm a compulsive editor, so NOT grabbing the pages from the printer and immediately attacking them with my trusty red pen was hard to do. But if you start editing, you likely won't stop, and you'll just start critiquing every word you write. Declare December (or whenever you're done) your Novel Editing Month if you must. November (or whenever you want to write) is writing time. Don't try to wear both hats at once.
9. Connect with other NaNo participants.
I didn't actually use the forums, because I had enough NaNoing friends on my f-lists. But just reading other people's NaNo posts was reassuring. If you're having a crappy day, chances are one of your friends is too. You're not alone.
10. Stretch your limits.
Entertain ideas, characters, and plots you otherwise might not: you just may find a way to make them work. If it doesn't work, you can always take it out later. The point is to try. No one expects a NaNo draft to be publishable the second it's done. Use the freedom of the exercise to do things your inner editor would normally forbid. Try using writing practices you don't even like. Maybe you'll learn why you don't like them; conversely, maybe you'll realize you judged them unfairly and that they aren't nearly as bad as you imagined.
11. Split up your writing time.
This, more than anything else, probably saved my ass. Obviously, I had the benefit of a mostly-open schedule, but if you can do your writing in chunks rather than in one session, you'll probably get a higher word count. I found if I only had one "sit down" session in a day, I ended up with about 2000 words. But if I split it up, I'd usually get around 3000-even though the actual time I spent was probably the same. Stamina isn't finite. Try writing about 1000 words; then take a break and come back to it later. You'll probably be refreshed and full of more ideas.
12. Don't take it too seriously.
Honestly. It's meant to be fun. Unless you have an actual publishing deadline to meet, don't worry about the 50K goal. It's not the end of the world if you don't "win". The point is to write without all those nagging insecurities. Get your ideas out and deal with the mess later.