It’s time to do some truth-telling-slash-tea-spilling…
Mostly because I see a lot of pumped people over on twitter sharing their enthusiasm and they’re inadvertently freaking the newbies out.
(You know NaNoWriMo, right? The crazy annual writing marathon where you write a book in 30 days alongside millions of writers worldwide?)
If this is your first year doing NaNo, I’m so excited for you! :)
Just… be careful with the things you see online. Meaning what you see is what the rest of us have honed through the years, which doesn’t mean you should do it on your first time. And sometimes you’ll see us just passing time by doing what everyone else does, and that’s never a good idea.
Some things other people do for NaNoWriMo won’t fit your writing style, they won’t help you win, and they won’t get you more excited about November than you already are. They might do the opposite.
I’m not saying don’t do these things (I’m a proponent of trying everything and seeing what fits and what doesn’t), I just wanted to outline a few common pitfalls just in case you’re feeling under pressure…
Ready?
First order of business: your way.
You do you. Ignore how others do it, do NaNo your way.
Maybe you’re doing NaNoWriMo for the first time and you don’t know what your way is… that’s OK. You can try everything and see what makes you feel good, what makes sense. But if you feel like something is a bad fit, please stop doing it and don’t do it again just because everyone else is.
Bad things happen when you do things for bad reasons. I’ve seen people write books and even start businesses just because they thought they were supposed to, and that’s not a good reason to create.
We create because we feel compelled to and we’re all unique individuals, so it doesn’t makes sense for us all to do the same things.
I mean, this isn’t high school…
Second order of business: NaNo rebels.
Don’t write a novel if you don’t want to. Gaaah.
This should go without saying, yet some people decide not to participate or to write what they don’t want to write because “the rules say so.”
I mean, if I told you to write a poem every day, would you?
It’s great to try new things and to stretch your writing muscles, and if you’re writing a novel for that reason, then I applaud you.
But please, if you are itching to write something else, WRITE IT.
There are a lot of NaNo rebels out there who are writing short stories (present!), scripts, non-fiction books, poetry, etc. They congregate here on the NaNoWriMo forums and there are some in The Rebel Writers community. Join us and write whatever the f*ck you want. :)
Third order of business: NaNo prep.
You’ll see a lot of people over-preparing for the event, and as a result burning out earlier in November.
Mega outlines, moodboards, covers, arcs, playlists, organization charts…
Obviously, it’s a bad idea to prepare all the things when you’re faced with a MONTH of writing. If you throw all of your energy on the prep phase, you won’t have any left for the actual writing. And yes, preparing for NaNo will help you stay on track, but only prepare things you know you need instead of preparing all the unnecessary things other people need.
You know? You’re not them, they’re not you. Do what you do!
That doesn’t mean everyone will end up burnt out… on the contrary, some people just thrive on preparing and know how to conserve their energy. Just be mindful of how your energy works and whether you’re feeling a little tired already. That’s a sure sign you have to slow your horses.
In the end, preparing is fun, it’s just our way to pass the time to November and bond with the other participants, but if you’re a newbie, please don’t be overwhelmed, you just prepare as much or as little as you want to.
For example, I know if I were to prepare a detailed outline I wouldn’t be interested in the story anymore and I won’t write it. I also know that I will need an accountability circle. So with those things in mind, I’m not tempted to do an outline and I’m working on setting up accountability buddies.
Figure out what you need and what you don’t need, and stick with that.
Fourth order of business: realistic goals.
Figure out what you want to get out of NaNoWriMo 2018…
When I first started, I thought I wanted to get a publishable manuscript, which was totally unrealistic, and the only time I got what I wanted was when I decided my goal was to relax and just write every day.
You know, no pressure.
Some people will write to publish, but unless you’re already published and know the process of writing a good first draft, it’s unlikely you’re going to manage it during NaNoWriMo of all things because it’s so stressful and challenging. Other people will write to “win” and they psych themselves up about the wordcount so bad that they peter out early because they start procrastinating. When you put stress on the chain, it breaks.
(Does it break or does it fall limp? Uhh, bad metaphor.)
Healthier reasons to do NaNo:
- to develop the daily habit of writing
- to meet writers and write alongside others
- to have fun and do what you love!
I mean, in the end your goal is your goal, I won’t be putting words in your mouth. I just wanted you to know that there are some unhealthy ways to stress yourself out before you’ve even begun. Ignore those.
Fifth order of business: winning NaNo.
People keep talking about “winning” at NaNoWriMo…
…but what is winning?
Having reached 50K? Having a decent first draft?
If those are true, congrats, but if you’re eating your hair in the corner at the end, I wouldn’t call you a winner, and if your manuscript is God-awful and you never wanna touch it again, I wouldn’t call you a winner either. (Both things have happened to me multiple times, so yeah.)
Here’s the truth not everyone will tell you:
- If you haven’t reached 50K you can still be a winner.
- If you managed to have fun with your fellow writers and written more than 0 words, you’re a winner.
- If you managed to stretch your writing muscles and tried something new for a month, you’re a winner.
- If you taught yourself to write every day, even if it was 100 or 300 or 500 words, that’s way better than writing sporadically, and I don’t care about your final wordcount, I’ll call you a winner.
- etc.
Decide what winning looks like for you and go get it!
Conclusion…
What about you?
Have you noticed any crazy trends on social media that are turning NaNoWriMo into some kind of stressful competition? Or do you thrive on that? Let me know by leaving a comment or tweet me.
