The phrase “NaNoWriMo” has a different meaning for everyone. For some, the phrase signals a time to be more intentional about setting aside time to write at the end of another busy year. For others, the phrase instills a deep fear of sleepless nights writing and intense flare-ups of carpal tunnel.
For me, though, the experience of NaNoWriMo has been a bit mixed.
If anyone is unaware, NaNoWriMo is a shortening of “National Novel Writing Month.” It’s a writing challenge, and the word challenge is appropriate. After all, the point is to write 50,000 words a month, which is around 1,667 words per day. In theory, this would be a very rough first draft of a novel.
Now, many can (and have) argued that many first drafts of a novel, especially in certain genres, will never just be 50,000 words.
But for me, that’s not quite the point.
Writing so many words in a month is a fabulous achievement, and one that I have accomplished three times in my lifetime (maybe four, as I can’t quite remember). It’s not possible for everyone, though. Between schoolwork and holidays and the looming darkness of winter, November isn’t always the best month for people to attempt such a feat. Others just aren’t the fastest of drafters, and maybe aren’t fans of the pressure which comes from drafting a novel so quickly.
Lucky for those of us who don’t feel like we can't quite reach 50,000 words in a month, whether just this specific year or ever, there is hope.
Just make your goal smaller.
I get it, I’m the kind of person who often sets goals which are far too large to be sustainable. After all, I did set a goal of 50,000 words for this year on a podcast script, when I haven’t written a full script on my own before. And yes, I am quite behind, but we’re working on it.
But, while the NaNoWriMo site mainly offers the 50k option for November, that doesn’t mean you have to take it. In fact, I don’t even use the site at all.
NaNoWriMo was started by people who were able to dedicate all of their time (or at least quite a bit of their time) to writing their novels. But the spirit of NaNo can take on many different forms.
For me, it hasn’t always been about the number of words I get down (after all, none of those first drafts have made it to the publishing stage yet), but about the community and confidence I have found in the meantime.
No matter how good the words are, our brains do like it when we reach goals. And I will say, the confidence eighth grade me gained from being able to write 50,000 words in a month and complete the NaNoWriMo challenge was probably the main thing which fueled me down the path to where I am today.
So, while we may love (or love to hate) the hectic month of November and the NaNoWriMo challenge, I know these experiences will fuel me for quite a while.
Who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to one day publish one of the books which originally started as a NaNo draft.
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