Five Ways to “Win” NaNoWriMo (Even if You’re Writing Nonfiction)
National Novel Writing Month, affectionately referred to as NaNoWriMo, is just two weeks away, but many people are still trying to decide if this international, novel-writing frenzy is really worth the effort. That’s why I decided to share some tips and ideas of how any writer can make NaNoWriMo work for them, even if they are working on nonfiction. Because really, who doesn’t want to attend the world’s largest literary party?
What is NaNoWriMo?
For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it always takes place in November. During this month, writers are challenged to write an entire 50,000-word novel, by writing 1667 words a day for thirty days straight. NaNoWriMo was founded way back in 1999 by a group of writers in California and has since morphed into an international writing event and organization. It’s absolutely free to do, many famous authors have admitted that the first draft of their published masterpieces started as NaNoWriMo projects, and the camaraderie gained by writing in concert with thousands of other people around the world is life-giving. Best of all, on December 1, you have a freaking book in your hands!
Is NaNoWriMo a Bad Thing?
The truth is, some people view NaNoWriMo as a gimmick that simply fosters bad writing. Moreover, they say it gives people false hope that writing a good novel can be done in a month. And while the goal of the program is to write fast and finish a manuscript in 30 days, understand that what gets written is a draft, not a novel ready for publication. Personally, I don’t think NaNoWrimo is a bad idea, I just think that writers have to have reasonable expectations going into November about what they can realistically accomplish.
Five Ways You Can Make NaNoWriMo Work for You
There are no judges or referees checking your NaNoWriMo project, so there’s no reason why you can’t adjust the rules to make NaNoWriMo work for you wherever you are in your writing journey, regardless of genre. Here are five ways to tweak NaNoWriMo so you can still take part in the experience and make progress on your literary work.
Use NaNoWriMo to Outline your Novel or Nonfiction Project
You don’t have be writing a novel to participate in NaNoWriMo. Tweak the rules to make it work for you!
If the idea of churning out an entire novel in 30 days is overwhelming, but you have an idea for a novel that you’d like to work on, use NaNoWriMo to write a comprehensive outline for your book. You could outline a chapter a day, or a chapter a week. The outline could include character sketches and backstories as well. That way, at the end of November, you don’t have a novel written, but you have the blueprint for your novel written and you can then get to work writing at your own pace in December and beyond. I actually did that for my first novel, Substitute Me. And the outline made writing the novel super easy. Note, if you’re working on a nonfiction book, this is also a viable option.
Use NaNoWriMo to Revise a WIP
Remember, the idea behind NaNoWriMo is to get people in their writing chair every day, and to have something to show for it by the end of November. If you already have a draft of your novel written, consider using NaNoWriMo to revise the full manuscript. That would be 30 days of revision. Break the project down by the number of pages or word-count you have, and divide that number by 30. And voila, you have Draft Two or Draft Three by December 1!
Write a Memoir Instead of a Novel
NaMeWriMo has a nice ring to it. And you already know the story. Go ahead and write your memoir in November. See what you can do. BIPOC writers, we need your stories!
Adjust the Numbers
Maybe you’re trying to write an epic novel, a story that rivals Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina or Alex Haley’s Roots, so 50,000 words isn’t going to cut it. Give yourself another number to shoot for. Can you write 80,000 words in 30 days? Or maybe you want to shoot for just 25,000 words because you want to be halfway done with the novel at the end of November and you’ll finish by February. The numbers aren’t the most important thing. It’s having a writing goal, making yourself do the work every single day, and having a finished product you’ll be proud of at the end.
Deep Dive into Backstory
Many times writers end up cutting out half of their manuscripts because they spend too much time writing backstory into their novel. The backstory is important for the writer to know, but ultimately, it bogs your story down and you have to scrap it. So, consider using NaNoWriMo to get to know your characters. Write out their backstories and physical descriptions. Give them playlists and figure out when they had their first kiss. Then maybe take some time figuring out where they live and what the sidewalk looks like outside their homes. Basically, you can use the NaNoWriMo month for world building; get really familiar with the setting where your story will take place and get cozy with your characters. When NaNoWriMo is done, you'll be more than ready to start writing your novel with confidence.
The Benefits of NaNoWriMo Can Work for Any Writer
The best part of doing NaNoWriMo is writing in community!
If you have an idea for a novel, or you’re somewhere in the process of writing a novel, NaNoWriMo can definitely work for you. But nonfiction writers can also take advantage of NaNoWriMo. In my book (pun intended), if you’re working on any book-length project, NaNoWriMo can be incorporated into your writing routine to help you make some significant progress.
There are no hard and fast rules, so you can take the spirit of the assignment – write like crazy for 30 days in November – and make it work for you.
The benefits of doing NaNoWriMo include the built-in pep talks, the generous community of like-minded writers, the technology that tracks your progress and reinforces a daily sense of accomplishments and purpose, and the satisfaction of being one step closer to achieving your literary goals. Also, it’s just a whole lot of fun. And who doesn’t need reminders once in a while that writing is supposed to be fun? And speaking of fun, be sure to take advantage of all of the bells and whistles on your NaNoWriMo profile page and find a friend to NaNoWriMo with you. With NaNoWriMo, you have to go all in or go home!
I am cheering for everyone and anyone who decides to take on the NaNoWriMo challenge. Let me know how it goes!