Hello and welcome to my guide to accomplishing the NaNoWriMo challenge!

Will we succeed this year? Who knows. But at least I can guarantee words on a page that were not there before. And that persistence is key to moving forward.

I should probably explain NaNoWriMo. It is also known as National Novel Writing Month , here, writers of all types are challenged to complete a full novel of fifty thousand words, an average of 1667 words a day. There are variations for the more ambitious, other types of writers, and the more realistic. But this is a month where a bunch of folks meet up to have a bit of chatting and a whole lotta “shut up, sit down and write already”. And honestly, this is how I tend to prefer to work- quietly with the option to chat as needed or desired.

Choosing A Goal

As with any challenge, you must determine what your goal is. After all, you can’t just start hiking up a mountain without choosing a trail. If you go in a straight line, you are definitely going to get lost in the forest.

So I have to ask: what do you want to achieve?

Here is an example of what I am aiming for this year (with a few modifications which I will explain shortly).

Am I going to accomplish all of this? Probably not, espeically how the holidays affect production at the end of the month. But impractical is not impossible – and this year, I am going in with a more diverse mindset.

The overarching goal is to get as close to fifty thousand words as possible – every new word is another win. After all, I have been working on that fantasy novel for the past six years. I am a lot closer to that goal that I can almost steam roll over that finish line.

Of course my brain asks, well what if I accomplish that early on? Then that is the next challenge in my life – actually finishing things

Attitude Check

Actually finishing things? Sounds kinda judgemental, but I need to be honest. I start a lot of things, have dozens of ideas, and finish a mere fraction of them. So what is with this boisterous tone?

It is time for an attitude check – wither you are a fellow idea collector, a perfectionist working on your seventh revision of the same idea, using this as an excuse to catch up on homework/ journaling/ thesising — whatever!

I am here to ask you this: WHY are you writing? Is it for you? To share with others?

If it is for pure self-expression, go ahead and enjoy the journey of your words that trail along the edges of your life.

But if you want to be read, to be seen…

Honey, you need to be ready to act. Perfectionism and multi-tasking are going to hold you back.

Let’s hop back to those goals I mentioned earlier and look at those details.

Finish Fantasy

• Finish fantasy – I literally have five chapters to fill. I budgeted each chapter to have eight pages, each with roughly three hundred twenty words each.
  • 320 w * 8 p = 2560 words in a chapter
  • w * c => 2560 * 5 = 12,800 words

At the steady rate of 1667 words a day, this will be finished in eight days. Sounds manageable, right? True, but slower years I barely accomplished that much by the end of the month; by having a smaller threshold, the number seems more achievable.

Now I can’t carry a laptop everywhere with me, but that composition book?

Modern Romance

• Fill composition book – already filled eighteen of a total of eighty total pages. A page holds roughly two hundred thirty handwritten words.
• 230 w * 62 p = 14,260 words

Ta da! And going in a creative flow is easier for me when I have a compulsion to fill a page with ink. I can get lost in the sensation of movement and the feel of words just finding their own rhythm. It is calming – a meditation.

Pump Up Poetry

Speaking of compulsively filling space with ink, poetry is a great way to squeeze words into the corners of my life – napkins, back of business cards, hidden notes in a binder, in the ledger of a notebook, or just a a random scrap of paper that I grabbed in a hurry. These pieces are harder to keep track of, but those small things really add up. A poem a day of maybe a few stanzas? I can bust those out like a daily practice.

Slightly longer pieces? Sure! A good hour long flow can net twelve poems. There may be various degrees of quality and words, but those words still count towards the overall goal. And they can be done at almost any time. No books or laptops or chargers necessary. Heck, you can even text or email them to yourself if you want to reduce the papers you are handling.

Blogging

Here is the idea of consistency and sense of obligation. I want to help you, to inspire and provoke your thoughts. Some of these posts will be written in advance of the actual date, therefore before I know my weekly word count. But my goal is to have a front heavy month of writing. I can draft these anywhere and I enjoy keeping a blog that is more like a flow of consciousness. It keeps my writing honest and vulnerable, more powerful.

In the end, attitude is about how you prep and present yourself. You can make the personal choice to be bold, soften your edges, whatever it takes to acchieve your goals. There is no one right or wrong way, as each writer’s journey is unique.

Practicing Gratitude

At the end of the month you will be tired, somewhat disappointed, and at least at the start of being overwhelmed.

And that is okay! You are trying a big challenge: if it feels easy, then aim for a personal best or a different goal during your next attempt. So show yourself kindness early on. Appreciate the days that you mange to sneak some writing in; for adding extra words on one day, those add up!

You are giving yourself the gift of self-expression, and you are open to being vulnerable and honest with yourself. This is valuable time of self reflection and exploration. The page is now your playground. Write, play as you wish and enjoy these sensations. By building warm and fuzzy emotions around this experience can make it easier of a habit to practice, as well as provide self-gratification.

So welcome to NaNoWriMo, and I hope you are ready to have some fun!