NaNoWriMo

020. NaNoWriMo Eve

Today’s NaNoWriMo Eve, the one day of the year where thousands of writers are preparing their ideas, reviewing their notes and outlines and beginning to panic about writing a 50k word novel during the month of November. I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month since the afternoon in undergrad when I stumbled across a copy of No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty in my local Books-A-Million (or since 2008). Though I’ve competed for the last couple of years, I have yet to actually win NaNo.

It seems like every November, I suddenly become too busy to write. So instead of officially participating in NaNo, I’m going to try something different. Instead of writing a 50k word novel, I’m going to be blogging every day in November. Yes, you heard me, I’m going to be updating this here blog everyday. I wrote down a list of topics that I want to cover during the month so I have no excuse not to update. In addition to blogging, I will continue to work on the project I’m working on with Cara and another WIP I have going.

For everyone participating in NaNoWriMo, I’d like to wish you good luck! You got this!

002. The Time Has Come…

November 1st is tomorrow and everyone in the writing community knows what that means. It’s time for National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo!

Or for anyone who has ever participated in NaNoWriMo before:

Okay, I might be in the minority with that last gif. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to write a book in the month of November. You have 30 days to write 50,000 words. For anyone with a slow-as-molasses writing process like myself, writing a 50,000 words in a month is a hellacious task.  I’ve been a NaNo participant since 2008 and I have yet to win.  It seems like the universe always has other plans for me during the month of November that leaves me unable to finish my manuscript. However, this year I plan on winning. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!

For the first time, I have a  pretty solid idea for my NaNovel. I’ve taken the steps to bother all my writer homies with it to see if it could make for an interesting story. This is a thing that I have to do because my ideas can be a little out there sometimes.  So far, everyone seems to be digging the premise and I’ve received several thumbs up. Soooooo…… I’m ready! I’m actually pretty excited about this story and look forward to writing it.  I plan on utilizing word wars and sprints to meet the daily word goal as well as establishing a set time to write. I’m also interested in going to a few of the write-ins in my neighborhood. I hope these strategies are beneficial so that I can be a NaNo Victor.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? If so, what tips and tricks do you plan on using to win?