Have you heard of NaNoWriMo but are not sure what it is? Thought of trying it but wondered if it was worth it? I wrote the first draft of my novel this November and lived to tell.
Imagine: You’ve been dreaming of writing a novel since you were a little kid, but life got in the way. You’ve been mulling your story idea for years. Suddenly, the stars align and you are ready to write your novel. The leaves have turned and begun to fall and you know the holidays are coming. Do you sign up and commit to writing 50,000 words in a month? Will it be worth your time and effort?
This is where I was this October. I told myself, if everything lined up just right, I would do it. I have always been a self-motivated creator, but when it came to getting words on the page, my dream novel, the one I thought about when I dreamed of being an author, wasn’t happening. This year, NaNoWriMo helped me get that story started.
Before I had ever heard of (Inter)National Novel Writing Month (November): I had done research; I had a broad outline of the characters; I had even written a prologue and shared it with my critique group, but the story wasn’t getting written. I don’t know why, but I knew I had to get outside of myself to write this story. Ever feel that way?
I decided I would look into NaNoWriMo. I wondered why so many people were talking about it. The goal? To write a rough draft with a beginning, middle and end and at least 50,000 words in one month. It sounded impossible. Did I do it? Was it fun?
Let’s look at the Pros and Cons:
| PRO | CON |
| Developed my characters | Lost storyline sometimes |
| Wrote lots of dialogue | Didn’t feel like art more like a machine |
| Approached difficult scenes | Paid too much attention to word count |
| Wrote most words in a day | More difficult revision |
| I now know how much I can write in an hour and in a ten minute sprint | My face broke out and my house got dusty |
| Learned about word crawls | |
| Joined a write-in at a local book store | |
| My inner critic really didn’t like it! |
As you can see, the experience was more positive than negative.
One take-away that I will use throughout the year is Word Crawls. Word Crawls are games to motivate writing. Unlike prompts, they do not tell you what to write. The purpose of a crawl is to play a game of how much or how long to write. My friends compared them to D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) in that you choose characters and might roll dice to see what your character does next, but the fun part is you write a story within a story. My favorite was The Walking Dead Crawl. You can take a look at some word crawls at the WikiWriMo
When I had a fever in the third week, I didn’t think I would make it. Word crawls with my best friend got me through.
So for me, this year, YES, it was worth it. And it was (mostly) fun. If the timing is right and you feel ready, you can write a first draft of a novel in a month! And as a bonus, learn what motivates you and new ways to get words on the page.
Have questions about NaNoWriMo? Please ask in the comments.
Did you participate this year? What do you think? Yes or No?
Happy Reading and Writing!
Experience Writing 