Novel November

’Tis the end of October

Which means tomorrow is the first of November

Otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month

I have participated 15 years now - writing over 50,000 words each year.  Two of those projects have since been published - although they are not novels, but rather are non-fiction books.  The other 13 drafts lie hidden away and may or may not ever again see the light of day.

I’ve mentioned elsewhere that the official NaNoWriMo is no more but that many of us still plan to write. I keep discovering new resources designed to encourage us during this project.

Allow me to recommend one that looks pretty cool - called First Draft November. Here’s the invitation and welcome:

NaNoWriMo is canceled.

Your novel isn't. 

Thirty days, one messy draft.

Join us for a month-long

novel writing challenge

helping you hit 50,000 words. 

...

Happy Writing, friends!

Coming soon: NaNoWriMo

So what in the world is NaNoWriMo?

You may have heard writers talk about it - maybe even just calling it NaNo.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a thirty-day challenge to write 50,000 words during the month of November.  NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with 21 participants and has grown to over half a million on six continents.

As the name implies, it began with that first group of people encouraging each other to write a novel in November, but some of the current half-million people write non-fiction and are affectionately referred to as NaNo rebels.

I stumbled upon NaNoWriMo in 2010 and have been participating every year since.  That first couple years I tried to write a novel - or at least tried to pretend that’s what it was - but have since discovered that I’m just a NaNo rebel.  I have now completed the challenge 13 times.  I have even published two of those projects.

I started out with one basic goal really - simply to make the word count of 2000 words every day - and I learned SO MUCH in the process.  Participating in NaNo has been instrumental in helping me build a consistent writing habit and has taught me many things about myself.

NaNoWriMo has evolved into a very cool movement with lots of fun stuff.  I’ve always loved the hype created with charts and graphs and writing buddies. More recently they have added merch and swag - from coffee mugs and posters to shirts and puzzles and even books.

It’s not too late to join the NaNo challenge. In fact, why don't you go to the NaNo site and sign up - so you can get in and see all the cool stuff.  

Or if it really feels too big for this year, maybe at least get your feet wet by trying out some alternatives.  But don’t give up too quickly; okay?

NaNo, NaNo! 

What counts?

 

Are you a writer?

Do you feel like a writer?

Back in my early writing years I remember deciding that I could call myself a writer if I was writing.  But what did that mean?

I determined that I would build a writing habit, working toward the goal of writing every day - for at least a few minutes - or to a specific word count goal.

But what would I write? 

What counts as writing? 

Then again… Who really cares? If this is my writing habit, then I guess I get to set the rules. Yes, I know there may come a time when I may want or need to set specific parameters for my daily writing – to discipline myself to move toward a certain project goal. But for now my main intent is to build the habit. So methinks it can be pretty open-ended.

Writing projects

I have lots of ideas of things I want to write about someday and have even started some of them. I can be working on any one of them in my regular writing time.

Blogging

That blog I started years ago is still sitting here patiently despite receiving sparse attention from me.  Once upon a time, I went to check out somebody else’s blog that I remembered liking…  but this time was disappointed to discover no new posting.  I found myself not wanting that to happen to my blog so I made a really small goal that I would post at least once a month.  I have succeeded most of the time.  Maybe it is time to punch it up to once a week.  Hmmm…

Journaling

I have written journals for many years – albeit sporadically. In recent years I have had a pretty solid digital journaling habit.  I like to have such journaling in electronic form so that I can easily cut and paste sections that I might want to use elsewhere.

Morning Pages

Back in 1992, in The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron introduced Morning Pages which are to be done with pen and paper.  I understand her reasons and do enjoy the pen-to-paper method, but still find myself alternating between that and keys-to-screen.  I’m mostly okay with that combination.

Letter-writing

I recently discovered that I had nearly forgotten how to write real old-fashioned letters – and I want to re-learn that worthwhile art.  Yes, I think that letters qualify as writing.

NaNoWriMo

Since publishing the first version* of this piece several years ago, I have added another powerful habit to my writerly life. I now participate in National Novel Writing Month every November, which is an intense push to compose 50,000 words in one month.  It has been an excellent exercise for me.

Everything counts

I’ve come to the conclusion that pretty much ANYTHING GOES. Anything I write counts as writing.  Duh.  Put pen to paper. That’s it. For this season at least, letter-writing qualifies. Journaling qualifies as well. Blogging earns extra credit. And those other projects? I’ll keep working on them. 

At about this point in my original post* of this piece, I dared to dream that “maybe someday one of them will grow into an actual literary work.”   Well, hey, sure enough.  One of my recent NaNo projects, Journey of a Decade, has indeed been published on Amazon.  

And now I’m working on publishing a second one.  I guess you never know where a consistent habit might lead.  Even small habits. 

So yah, if I put pen to paper...  If I intentionally corral some of the thoughts chasing each other through my brain and whip them into words and sentences, it counts.

And yes, I am a writer.

Because I write.

My NaNoWriMo journey - so far...

 Once upon a time a long, long time ago…

No, wait; maybe it wasn’t such a terribly long time ago.  But in some ways it feels like a different world.  A different lifetime.

I had been thinking I might like to be a writer, but had absolutely no idea how to make that happen.  And then we found ourselves having dinner with a writer and his wife.  I remember being enamored by the fact that I even knew someone who was a writer!  As we enjoyed a nice dinner and got better acquainted, I found myself asking if he had any advice about how to become a writer.  

He asked me a couple good questions that would serve to help me clarify my thinking and he gave me a few basic pointers - which were quite helpful to me at that time and since.

One of his tips was to tell me about this crazy opportunity to write a book in a month.  I didn’t understand much of how it worked but got enough info to eventually be able to connect with NaNoWriMo.  

I learned that November is National Novel Writing Month - a time when hundreds and thousands of people around the world push themselves to crank out 50,000 words during those 30 days.   

That was the fall of 2010 when I got signed up to give it a try.  Turns out there is only one rule really.  You write 50,000 words during the month to get a certificate declaring you a NaNo winner.  I had no idea if I was capable of cranking out that many words - altho’ my wordiness is pretty common knowledge.

You can guess the answer; otherwise I probably wouldn’t be telling the story; right? 

Yep, I cranked out well over 50K…  and felt pretty accomplished.  Never mind that the document may never again see the light of day.  It was writing practice and it was even kinda’ fun.

So I did it again the next year… and the next…

From that very first time, I had adopted that one rule…  to make the word count goal.  50K translates to about 1667 words/day so I usually go for 2000… overachiever that I am… or wish to be.  Really that is just because I know that I need to have a cushion because I do not want to take a chance of falling behind!

Eventually I added my own second rule: have fun with this thing!  It wasn’t until a few years later that I began to think this might possibly lead to me writing a real book.

That was more than a decade ago.  Then in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, I completed my 11th NaNo project and in 2021 published it.

In the meantime, we moved to a new place where it has been my great privilege to meet several more published authors and to count them among my new friends.

So now… after completing NaNoWriMo a dozen times… today, November 1, 2022, I have begun yet another time.  I got up early this morning and I cranked out 2232 words.  I even have a theme and a plan and an outline…  and a teensy bit of hope that I might end up with another book - after many, many months of work.

It’s NaNo time…  and we’re off and running!!!  Er… um… I mean typing!

Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

So you’ve thought about NaNoWriMo but are not sure it’s for you?

You are in good company.  Lots and LOTS of people want to do it, but are afraid they can’t make it happen.  Lots of others have tried but didn’t make it to the finish line.

Or maybe you wanted to do it this year, but feel like it's too late to start.

Or maybe you did start, but it's just not coming together.

Never fear; there are alternatives to NaNoWriMo.

Don’t believe me?  Just keep reading!

I have somehow stumbled upon a plethora of articles about such alternatives - three, five, six, or nine of them, in fact.  Take your pick!

Here are a few samples to whet your “alternatives appetite.”  

…

Should you do NaNo?

• by Ellie Betts

Ellie swings back and forth between pros and cons… concluding with:  You know what?  Why not?  She speaks of her own NaNo attempt - and admits that failing NaNoWriMo was one of the best things that ever happened to her as a writer.

…

3 Alternatives to NaNoWrimo

• written by Emily Wenstrom
• presented by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice

Emily shares 3 catchy ideas that might work better for you:

1. Round of words in 80 days
2. 52 week short story challenge - inspired by Ray Bradbury who famously stated: It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.
3. Continuous Creation Challenge

…

Five alternatives to NaNoWriMo

• by Carrie Rembrandt

Writers don’t have to be novelists.

There is writerly life beyond novel writing!

1. The Notebook Project: One notebook, cover to cover, in 30 days
2. National Blog Posting Month: 30 blogs, 30 days.  I’ve discovered there are all kinds of these challenges and have actually participated in 31 Amazing Days - 31 because it was for the month of October.
3. Academic Writing Month  - Set your own goals based on these rules.  
4. Digital Writing Month 
5. Become a NaNo rebel - Actually NaNoWriMo organizers have set up an official forum devoted to NaNo rebels - for those writing non-fiction.

…

6  Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

• Dot and Dash

Sure enough, here’s one with SIX alternatives - although a few of them overlap with the previous article.

… and finally…

9 Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

Again, several overlaps with the articles above including poetry, blogging, and literary journals. Lots of fun stuff!

...

So there you go.  Lots of really cool options for you to try if you think that NaNoWriMo is too much.  Maybe you can tweak one of these to make your very own best version.

Images courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

Novel November

November is National Novel Writing Month


Once again I participated in National Novel Writing Month this year. Once again I won - which means that I succeeded in writing more than 50,000 words during the month of November. It wasn't the story that I planned to write, but the words flowed and you better believe I counted them. All 64,772 of them.

This was my fifth time to participate in NaNo - and to win - but I suppose some people would question the value of it. After all I have not yet edited and published any of those stories. However from Year One I've been convinced of the value of such an endeavor - for many reasons. I don't suppose I have the energy to detail those reasons at the moment but surely I'll write about them at another time.

This year's success is even sweeter because I managed to get it done in the midst of an otherwise crazy busy month. Other years I've tried to keep November rather free so that I could really focus on NaNo, but that was not an option this year. But still I did it. I pushed myself and cranked out the words and I'm proud of my accomplishment.
 So another November has come and gone. A November like no other. Lots of changes in my world and in my life. But some things have stayed the same and NaNoWriMo was one of them. Yay!!!

NaNo time!!!

It's NaNo time!

November has become a special month for me in recent years because that's when I write a book. November is National Novel Writing Month - affectionately dubbed NaNoWriMo by the hundreds and thousands of people who push themselves to crank out 50,000 words during the month. I have done NaNo four times now and I am excited to do it again. Two of those times, I had a plan and the other two ... um, not so much.

This year I have a plan - to write a sort of memoir or travelogue about our epic journey of the past year. I am guessing that I'll end up with WAY more than 50,000 words - because there is so much to write about.

NaNo requires a huge commitment, but also offers some good rewards. I will probably post more about it here, about those rewards and the process through the month, but then again I may not find much time to post here during the month.

At any rate, NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow and I'm ready to go.