Pebblepup's Writing Den

It’s that time of year again. Nanowrimo starts in ten days. It can be daunting if you have never done it. Fifty thousand words in thirty days sounds impossible. It is not.

Forget about the total number of words you must achieve to win the challenge. That’s how you lose. Fifty thousand words divided by thirty days is sixteen hundred sixty-seven words. That’s all you need to write everyday. I write thirteen hundred every day in the normal course of my journal writing. So I use my journal to write the rough draft that you get when you take part in the challenge.

If you don’t write as I do, break it down into writing sessions. You can do five hundred words per each session, three per day will get you fifteen hundred words. Then you will only need another hundred sixty-seven words in that day. Six hundred words in three sessions each day will assure you will win the challenge.

I recommend that you have a story idea ahead of time. I usually create my characters and write a plot summary before I start the work. A beat sheet is enough, for you pantsers. This is another strategy.

Combining the two, will increase your chances of winning the challenge. So if you want to win the challenge those two strategies will do that for you. There are other strategies as well.

Setting a specific time to write your NaNoWriMo project is good. This can be as little as fifteen minutes per session to an hour. Then write as many words in that set amount of time at the set time and you will find your words mounting up.
Of course, your responsibilities may limit your time. So when you can squeeze out the most time, write as many words as you can. I can write a thousand words in a half hour, if I know what I’m trying to write.

Don’t give up. That’s key. You can’t win the challenge if you give up. Another tip is to ignore any typos. Don’t worry about them. This is a rough draft. You’ll fix those when you revise the piece after the challenge.

If you can’t write the number of words you need to write on a particular day, don’t sweat it. Make them up the next day and succeeding day. You can do it. Write two thousand words the next day and the following. Search for extra time to write more words.

Don’t stop writing when you reach your word count goal for a day either, if you have time left. This is how you can compensate for the days you don’t make the word count goal.

You can do all these tips and strategies on their own, but your best bet is to combine two or more of them. You can win this challenge, if you want to, as long as you don’t give up.