NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month

Summary

NaNoWriMo, the annual global event challenging writers to complete a 50,000-word novel in November, is approaching, with resources like word trackers and an upcoming YouTube interview with its founders to inspire participants.

Abstract

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an upcoming event in November that invites writers worldwide to pen a 50,000-word novel within the month. Founded in 1999 with 21 participants, it has grown to include hundreds of thousands from over 90 countries. Participants can use honor-based word trackers to monitor their progress, and planning is now encouraged in October. The event's founders, Chris Baty and Gordon Faulkner, will host a special YouTube interview to discuss the event. Writers of all levels are encouraged to join, with the flexibility to plan their novels in advance and the support of a global writing community.

Opinions

The author has a positive view of NaNoWriMo, having participated multiple times and finding the experience rewarding.
They appreciate the flexibility in the current rules, which now allow for pre-planning in October, contrary to the "no preplanning" rule of the early days.
The author values the sense of accountability and tracking provided by tools like the NaNoWriMo word tracker and their own custom Excel spreadsheet.
They find the global event motivating, emphasizing the collective energy of 300,000 participants as a driving force to overcome personal and logistical challenges, such as having a full-time job.
The author is open to sharing their personal writing tools, offering their Excel spreadsheet to others interested in tracking their NaNoWriMo progress.
They believe that writing 1,667 words a day is achievable, even for those with busy schedules, and compares it to writing two 800-word Medium articles daily without the need for accompanying images or keywords.
The author encourages aspiring writers to seize the opportunity to write a book, highlighting the empowering nature of NaNoWriMo.

Is Coming Soon in November

Screen shot from NaNoWriMo.org with my progress on a book I wrote in 2021

Sometimes, the universe provides. I got an email this morning announcing a special interview on YouTube at 2 p.m. with Chris Baty, the original founder of NaNoWriMo, and Gordon Faulkner, the Executive Director at NaNoWriMo for the last 12 years.

I got a good start at NaNoWriMo as a writer. I’ve participated a few times during the past years, and I always started with absolutely no idea of what I was going to write about. In those early days of NaNoWriMo, the “rules” were that there was no preplanning. I don’t know when the official rules said it was okay to do, but now, during the month of October? Plan your heart out.

The goal is to write a 50,000-word document that we’ll call a novel in one month. You’ve got from November 1 to November 30 to get it done. It is free. It is a global event.

In 1999, when it first started in Oakland and Berkeley, California, there were 21 participants. They were all friends. In the second year, there were 120 participants, and in their third year, the place exploded. Now, they are located in San Francisco, and I think they’ve got 300,000 participants from over 90 countries.

There is this nifty word tracker where you enter your word count for the day on the website. It is all honor-based. I found one for my Notion organizer that somebody invented. It’s actually got the requisite 1,667 words a day as a goal.

I prefer an Excel spreadsheet that I made years ago to suit my needs. It just keeps you on track and holds you accountable. The tracker at NaNoWriMo even has a graph so you can see when you wrote more (or less) than your goal.

This screen print on the NaNoWriMo.org website at the beginning of the article is me writing in July 2021 on my book How to Channel and Save Money on Psychics. I got past the 50,000-word mark. It’s a first draft and needs more writing on it. I figure to aim for 80,000 to 100,000 words, which I figure won’t be that hard. Eventually, I’ll pick it up again.

But, coming up this November? I just want to do a fresh book. Haven’t decided, though another one set in Pioneer Days sort of appeals to me.

I’m going to take a couple of weeks to pound out a three-act book. Beginning, Middle, and End. I could even double-mash that out into 15 or 20 chapters. I know the way I write that I’ll be writing more than 50,000 words, but it’s good to aim for.

From the Author’s NaNoWriMo spreadsheet. DM me if you’d like a copy.

Here is a picture of what I will use this November on Nanowrimo. I’ve never figured out how to do the graph part of it, but what my spreadsheet does for me is let me know how far along I am as I write. On the NaNoWriMo website, you enter in the number of words you wrote that day. On my spreadsheet, I can figure that out easily because I jump around at times in the document and can’t tell at a glance what the specific word count for each individual day is. It just works for me.

If you’d like a copy of my page for this November, let me know in DM, and I’ll get one to you. Or, you can email me at pmevanosky at gmail.com.

No matter how busy you are, you can carve out time to write 1,667 words a day. If you figure you write 800-word articles at Medium, it is the equivalent of pounding out two of them a day, and you don’t have to find pictures or keywords!

I’ve participated in enough NaNoWriMo’s to know that having a full-time job is not an excuse. You can do it. You get up an hour earlier. You make deals with your partner to carve out the time you need. You have the energetic power of 300,000 other people who are also participating and going through your same struggles.

You are a writer. Now, write a book!

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