I’ve not been writing for very long, one month in fact and I’ve come across a post about the ‘National Novel Writing Month‘. This is something I have never heard of but having read about it I’m really excited and have decided to participate.
After finding out what it entails I’ve gone through a series of emotions from wonder to fear to nervousness and of course excitement. Quite frankly it is scary as you have to its minimum of 50,000 words for your book to be classed as a novel. If you only reach a word count of 30,000 you can pass it as a novella but NaNoWriMo is about novels so you target has to be 50,000.
50,000 words … that’s a lot of words! It works out to around 1,667 words per day! That is quite some number and it means a daily commitment to getting a target word count done. If you fall behind it will mean there is serious catching up to do! It runs for the whole of November and once joined up you have access to an online community and forums and a profile where you can track your progress! You can start writing from Nov 1st until 30th Nov 2016.
So we have just over a month to get ourselves organised for this so what preparations do I need to do? I’m guessing my main concern should be an idea for a novel which I do have but apart from the few notes I have for some ideas of how my story will pan out that as far as I have got. I think my focus will be planning an outline of the book including chapters, cliffhangers and settings, a start, middle and end to a story. Characters will be created as I write but I have 5 main characters for my idea. I will share a little insight into my story … but before I do, first I need to be clear what that is!
So the next question for me is how do I join the forums? I’ve logged on but the links for the forums don’t seem to be working. I’m eager to get going and start the planning process!
I may have answered some of the same questions you initially had if you had never heard of it before. If not and I have missed something please ask away in the comments!
I’m looking forward to the challenge! Who is joining me? Are you participating? If you are Great! Add your name to comments and add me as a writing buddy!
Welcome aboard! I can’t help with NaNoWriMo as I’ve never participated. Good Luck! Hopefully somebody will read your blog that can answer your questions.
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Thank you!
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Hi Madsion, you are signed up for NanoWriMo you should be able to click on the forums and it takes you to the conversations from last year, around October 1st ish it will reset to clear the site and new forums will start
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Thanks Hun. I ended up messaging the officials! Lol None of the forum links work on my account. I’m guessing because I wasn’t registered last year I can’t access them. They said it resets beginning of Oct as you said. I will have a look tomorrow and go through the ones that are active.
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Also add me as a writing buddy my user name is jcruz356
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Great! Will add you tomorrow
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Add me too! mrswintheiser. As to some of your prep questions. I’ve come across a blog that had an idea to make basically story sticks. You take popsicle sticks and write down plot ideas and when you get stuck you pick one and you have to incorporate what it says into your story. I don’t know if you’re on pinterest, but just do a search on that site for nanowrimo. You’ll come across a lot. Good luck with your word goals! ☺
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Wow! Fab ideas!! Yes I’m on Pinterest under this name! Add me for sure! I really need to get organised but get distracted by WordPress hehe!
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I know the feeling 🙂 I have to get organized too! Good thing we have about a month and a half yet.
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Haha! Yes but it doesn’t feel like enough time and the other thing is I have no clue how! lol
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Make a to do list. Include things like clean desk, make playlist, buy coffee (or drink of choice), create outline, come up with reward system, etc. That’s what I’m in the process of doing. Hope that helps.
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is that for a BuJo or for NaNoWriMo? Was meaning the later 😉
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For nanowrimo. You could put it in your buju though if you want. 🙂
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Ahh! Okay. I’m thinking s whole BuJo for writing! X
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You could do that too. 🙂
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Welcome to a fantastic community! I could go on and on about how to prepare yourself… But I already did on my blog: https://matthewenordin.com/2015/10/29/15-tips-for-nanowrimo-2015-or-how-i-broke-75k/
Feel free to add me as a buddy too “matthewenordin” 🙂
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Thank you! I will look forward to read all about it!
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I wish you well in your NaNoWriMo goals. I participated for the first time last year and loved it. I even surpassed the 50K word length and the novel I started back then is scheduled for publication the first part of 2017. I will offer two pieces of advice: (1) schedule time every day to write (and do nothing else during that time); and (2) write, don’t wordsmith. Get your scenes recorded. You will take care of editing after November. I’m Taviar in the NaNoWriMo world.
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Great! It’s a daunting task but I’m determined to achieve it! Thanks for your tips!
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I did nanowrimo last year, and am doing it again this year! Can’t even begin to recommend it..It finally got me writing!
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It’s definitely very inspiring! I’m so excited I’m wishing the month away! Lol
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