What I Learned from NaNoWriMo
By: Russell Jelks
Tags: 52 Week Writing Challenge, NaNoWriMo, Writing

I learned a few things from participating in the National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write 50,000 words in November.

I first learned that the trick to writing 50,000 words in a month is to write your thoughts as they form without critiquing them. You do have to find time to do this, and you have to be willing to use this time to spew crap. You have to learn this quickly, or you’ll fall too far behind.

You do have to find time to do this, and you have to be willing to use this time to spew crap. You have to learn this quickly, or you’ll fall too far behind. You’re going to spew a lot of crap. Buckets of crap. I wrote tons of sentences that were basically, “She did [this thing], then she did [that thing], then she did [that first thing] some more, then she said ‘Wow, look at this great [thing] I just did!’”

Buckets of crap. I wrote tons of sentences that were basically, “She did [this thing], then she did [that thing], then she did [that first thing] some more, then she said ‘Wow, look at this great [thing] I just did!’” I like using the word “suddenly” quite a bit. This is one of the uglier truths about myself that I discovered. Adverbs are like a drug.

This is one of the uglier truths about myself that I discovered. Adverbs are like a drug. You have to make time to write. I fell into the habit of taking chunks of my day and scribbling hundreds words at a time. I woke up half an hour early and wrote while drinking coffee. I wrote during my lunch break. If I didn’t meet my word count by the end of the day, I stayed up until I did.

I fell into the habit of taking chunks of my day and scribbling hundreds words at a time. I woke up half an hour early and wrote while drinking coffee. I wrote during my lunch break. If I didn’t meet my word count by the end of the day, I stayed up until I did. You have to give stuff up to find the time. Before I started, I’d guess I was skimming 300 articles a day from my RSS feed. I solved that by deleting Feedly from my phone. Also watched less TV and YouTube.

Before I started, I’d guess I was skimming 300 articles a day from my RSS feed. I solved that by deleting Feedly from my phone. Also watched less TV and YouTube. You have to have the support of your loved ones. You’re going to be seeing less of them. You need to be sure they’ll still be there come December. I completed NaNoWriMo in 2015 on my first try. When I told my wife I wanted to do it again in 2016, she grumbled something about being single again.

You’re going to be seeing less of them. You need to be sure they’ll still be there come December. I completed NaNoWriMo in 2015 on my first try. When I told my wife I wanted to do it again in 2016, she grumbled something about being single again. It helps if you give yourself occasional rewards. Once I was falling too far behind, so I set a goal of three days of 3,000 words per day. As a reward, I bought myself a pen.

Once I was falling too far behind, so I set a goal of three days of 3,000 words per day. As a reward, I bought myself a pen. Writing is easier than I thought. Editing is really hard. At the end of one month, you have a 50,000 word bucket of crap. It takes months to make that into a bucket of not-crap. I ended up failing to do that second part. It’s like climbing a flight of stairs, only to find that you have ten more flights to go.

At the end of one month, you have a 50,000 word bucket of crap. It takes months to make that into a bucket of not-crap. I ended up failing to do that second part. It’s like climbing a flight of stairs, only to find that you have ten more flights to go. Writing by hand was a stupid idea. I did it this way because fountain pens are fun and typing is not. Then I was stuck with the task of typing in 50,000 illegible words. Neal Stephenson writes his books by hand. He probably has beautiful handwriting.

Please don’t try to read it.

I wanted to get a discounted copy of Scrivener. That’s why I took the challenge. I completely surprised myself by winning in 2015. I wanted to do it again in 2016, but this time I wanted to get something amazing out of the deal.

I planned and plotted and outlined. In October, I did NaNoPrepMo. And I started on November 1. By November 10 I’d only typed 4,670 words, and I quit. My heart wasn’t in it. I was too distracted.

2016 was a horrible year, and things don’t seem to be getting much better. I’m not too interested now in writing some “fantasy novel in a world with different kinds of magic and a YA female protagonist”.

Instead I want to run around screaming, flailing my arms about. I also want to hide under the covers.

Which brings me to the last thing I learned:

I started writing a book about an old, weary knight, setting out on a last quest before retiring. 10,000 words in, I found a character travelling with him who I liked better. I turned her into an adult, gave her a conflict and a goal and a love interest, then I wrote 40,000 more words about her. She became the protagonist. Sometimes, you end up in a very different place from where you expected to be.

And suddenly, this article comes to a totally separate ending than I’d planned.