Get set for NaNoWriMo with these tips

November is almost here and that means National Novel Writing Month kicks off. If you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo is a month-long writing project in which writers write a 50,000-word draft of a novel in 30 days.

Novels can be any genre or language. Planning and extensive notes are allowed but pre-written material can’t go into the body of the novel for it to count. To complete the project in 30 days, you’ll need to write an average of 1,667 words a day.

A deadline is one of the best incentives to get writing and NaNoWriMo can help writers get into that non-analytical state of mind and write a draft from start to finish, a key step to ultimately finishing a novel.

While most novels are longer than 50,000 words, meeting the goal and “winning,” can mean writing a 50,000-word novel or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be finished later. According to Wikipedia, notable novels of roughly 50,000 words include The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Brave New World, and The Great Gatsby.

Here are a few tips for writing massive numbers of words in 30 days.

Plan out the bones of your story. My first attempt to do NaNoWriMo didn’t work because I realized I didn’t know enough about my story. Having a structure or outline in mind may give you more ideas and momentum to push forward.

Create a writing routine. If you don’t have a writing practice now, NaNoWriMo is a good way to build one. Set a schedule for writing that works for you whether it’s early in the morning or late at night or sometime in between. Find friends to write with, participate in Nano writing meetups. Seems easy but the days go by fast and life can get in the way. If nothing else, Nano can be a good incentive to create a writing practice that lasts long after November and makes you a more prolific writer.

Visit nanowrimo.org to sign up, learn more, and take advantage of a host of motivational resources.

For more information and inspiration, check out these previous posts:

A six-stage plan for writing your Nano novel in 30 days

Eight quick tips for national novel writing month

How keeping a writing practice list can increase your NaNoWriMo word count