When the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) was first launched in 1999 by freelance writer Chris Baty, no one could have guessed how much traction it would gain over the following decades. With 21 writers participating in the original event, within ten years, over 200,000 people would compose a total of over 2.8 billion words. By 2015, 431,626 people participated from 633 different regions.
The challenge asks participants to write a 50,000-word manuscript between November 1 and November 30. This is not to be considered a final draft but to meet the contest rules, you have to write 50,000 words in 30 days, and there are checks and balances within the challenge to make sure writers do just that.
Basically, it's a crash course in helping writers understand the amount of discipline required for productivity and getting a novel completed. The focus is on hitting 50,000 words and writers are encouraged to finish their first draft quickly so that it can later be edited when the challenge is complete. There is no fee to participate in NaNoWriMo. You only have to register and put your best effort into completing it successfully.
30-day challenges that led to book deals
The results of a 30-day writing challenge speak for themselves. Since 2006, nearly 400 NaNoWriMo novels have been published via traditional publishing houses and over 200 novels have been published by smaller presses or self-published. Among these titles are books like:
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
- Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, published by Delacorte Press
- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, published by Dutton Juvenile
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, published by Doubleday
- Wool by Hugh Howey, published by Simon & Schuster
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer, published by Square Fish
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, published by St. Martin's Press
- The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough, published by Del Rey Books
- Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy, published by HarperCollins Publishers
- Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers, published by HarperCollins Publishers
- The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, published by Gollancz
- The Cut Out by Jack Heath, published by Allen & Unwin
- The Beautiful Land, by Alan Averill, published by Ace Books
I want to participate, what should I know to prepare?
If you plan to participate in the 2010 NaNoWriMo Challenge, here are a few tips to prepare for the enormous task ahead.
Be organized
As with any task, the better organized you are, the more likely you'll be to be successful and achieve your goal. So, on the front end, you'll need to set a daily word count goal, just like bestselling authors do.
November 2019 has 30 days. This means that if you're writing every day, you need to hit a daily word count goal of approximately 1,667 words, which is right under what Stephen King sets for himself as a daily word count goal. If you know that there will be days during the month you won't be able to write (Thanksgiving, for example), you'll need to factor that in.
Don't edit, just write
In her book Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, which has sold over a million copies, bestselling author Natalie Goldberg advises:
Don't cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it.) Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.) Lose control. Don't think. Don't get logical. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.
This advice has been repeated by other bestselling authors, and it's well-known within author circles that the best way to approach writing a book is to write first, edit later. There's a very logical, scientific reason for it, too. Writers create, using the right side of the brain, while editors analyze, using the left side of the brain. It's two different processes and needs to occur at two different phases of development in your creative endeavors. Since the NaNoWriMo challenge only requires 50,000 words to be written within a month, there is no need to edit yourself. The focus should be placed entirely on the creative process of writing.
Do the prep work now
If you plan to write a fantasy manuscript, the amount of work that goes into worldbuilding on the front-end is daunting, to say the least. This video can get you started on some of the core aspects of worldbuilding.
Regardless of genre, if you're not quite sure how to build your main character, this article is a good starting point for learning about the Hero's Journey and the steps that are traditionally included in it. Since all great stories follow a similar heroic arc, it's a good idea to know this arc before creating your own hero.
Additionally, a lot of writers have seen a lot of success with using The Snowflake Method. If you don't have a ton of experience in story drafting or plotting, the Snowflake Method is an easy way to get your story on the page. This article is a basic tutorial on how to approach the Snowflake Method to get your story outlined before the NaNoWriMo challenge gets started, and is good information to know on the front-end of any attempt at writing a story.
Consider creating a scene list
While a scene list is not required for writing a novel, some writers, like author J.K. Rowling, swear by them. If you want to create a scene list before your 30-day writing challenge, this article is a great resource for learning what a scene list is and how to make one.
Let your friends and family know what you're doing
American author Jessamyn West once said, Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.
There is a lot of truth in this statement, and it's perhaps a reason why writers throughout history have been notoriously crummy spouses and parents. In fact, being able to balance one's work and family life as a writer is an obstacle many writers admit to facing, so to prepare yourself for any 30-day writing challenge, you'll need to understand this simple truth on the front-end. Especially if you have a full-time job outside of your writing endeavors, you should have the conversation with your significant other and family members so they understand the amount of privacy you'll need to get 50,000 words on the page within 30 days.
Anyone who has ever attempted to write a novel with multiple distractions around them understands that it's simply difficult—if not impossible—to do. Writing takes focus, and when you're not given the space and time to make that happen, you'll only be frustrated with the whole process and likely fall short of your goals.
Since the 30-day writing challenge is incredibly brief in the scheme of things (most writers take many months, even years, to complete a novel), this shouldn't be a difficult sacrifice for your friends and loved ones—especially if they understand how important writing is to you and the passion you have for accomplishing the personal goal of getting a book written and published. A little communication goes a long way in preempting any potential problems that could arise during the middle of your 30-day writing challenge, so make sure you take the time to explain to everyone why this is important to you and how they can help you succeed.
A final thought
If you're serious about getting a book written and published, taking on a challenge like the NaNoWriteMo is better than any writing class you could take. It will show you the enormous amount of discipline and creative effort that goes into writing a novel and set you on the path to better writing habits in the future.
Even if your manuscript is incredibly rough around the edges and needs a lot of editing, you've still done the hardest part of getting a book written, which is making that first rough draft. You'll end the 30-day challenge with a fresh perspective on your abilities as a writer and more passion to continue your goal of finding success in your creative efforts. So—what are you waiting for?
