A Beginner's Guide to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

What is NaNoWriMo? Perhaps you've heard about it from a friend or family member whose participated in it before. Perhaps not.

Introduction

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is a worldwide annual event that takes place in November. The goal is to write a novel consisting of at least 50,000 words (175 pages) in just thirty days. NaNoWriMo was founded in 1999 by Chris Baty and has gained a large following of participants each and every year.

50,000 in only thirty days?

At first glance that goal looks very lofty and unattainable. I can assure you that it's not as bad as it might look and it is most certainly attainable. Assuming that you write each and every day in the month of November without missing a day, and aiming to finish precisely on the 31st of November, you'll need just 1,667 words a day. That's not too terribly bad, now is it? However, if you miss a day or don't manage to write the full 1,667 words a day, you will need to make up for lost time and to write more to catch up.

A novel of 50,000 words is a shorter novel, and more likely a novella, but it's still a novel, and a fantastic thing to accomplish in just 30 days. Novels like Of Mice And Men and No Plot! No Problem! are approximately 50,000 words. Try not to let the word count intimidate you. Take it 100 words at a time, or even 1,000 words at a time. It'll seem less lofty if you do this, and each 1,000 is 1/50th closer to your ultimate goal.

So, what can you do before November?

Well, you can't write anything before November, but what you can do is plan, plot, and do character sketches and profiles. If your novel needs world building or legends to be made up about the world or characters, you can work on this prior to November. If your novel requires research, you can also do this before November.

What if you are using a novel in progress for NaNo?

While this is discouraged, in the interest of you having the fuel to get through to the finish line, it's not forbidden. If you decide to use something that is in progress, you will have to assure that you write a full 50,000 words during November in addition to what is already written when you start NaNo.