Is it worth entering Nanowrimo this year?
November is a big event for writers, and it’s called the National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo). It’s where the participants are tasked to write fifty thousand words for the first draft of their own story.Sounds easy, right? Well, to reach that goal, you’ll need to ideally write about sixteen thousand and seventy words a day. I can tell you, from my experience, that is a lot of words, and you can’t simply reach it in just short bursts.
As a writer who’s yet to stick to a full routine of writing work daily, I can write about eight hundred words in a morning or afternoon, unless I don’t procrastinate or proofread between sentences. It’s a full commitment that unless you are determined to write down without backtracking, it’ll be like a full day’s work.
I was fortunate to win both 2018 and 2019 contests, and I almost failed the Camp Nano back in July (the Pandemic was partially to blame for that). It was like a feeling of pushing my sore fingers to write into the middle of the night. I made sure I didn’t stagger behind and do a heck ton of catch up, which gets more challenging to do every time I fall back.
But the question is, was it worth it? Yes, it was.
I heard about Nanowrimo for a long time. I discovered through writing magazines around 2011, which I saw it as an opportunity to write a novel. I hesitated for far too long. I worried about having to set up for it or having to do a lot of short stories first. I made a bunch of excuses. I visited a coffee shop a lot of times a decade ago, where I brought my white MacBook in with a cappuccino. I was going to write. I then went into blocks and mucked around the internet for other topics that I was interested in. That was back when I knew little of the helpful motivational tips I learned over the years. I had to suffer in silence because of my long depression episode. I got so distracted that I hardly got started into novel writing, but I still want to live to tell a tale.
I got so distracted that I hardly got started into novel writing, but I still want to live to tell a tale.
After many years of hints and tips, however, I finally decided to join in 2018. I wrote my first draft for a book at fifty thousand words, complete with a beginning, middle and end. I felt so proud that I was keen to edit it and make it good for publishing. And then it all changed.
Because I have written a draft for a book before, I became more curious. I looked for more tips on novel writing across the internet and discovered a lot of useful ones. Even the Youtube videos I found were much clearer and easier to follow, compared to the books and magazines I bought over the years that took the whole novel-writing business at a glance.
But following advice wasn’t the only area of improvement. I had a story on my hands. That meant for what I wrote, I can review it and see which parts worked and which of the others didn’t. After sharing a few snippets of my work to my friends, they pointed out the errors in the story and gave constructive criticism about its general flow. The self-criticism of my own work strengthened over time. I was able to notice more which parts of my story slowed down, and which ideas didn’t connect for a smoother narrative. As a result, I became more self-aware, for my questions turned to ‘when I’m going to write?’ to ‘how do I write properly?’
I also received a taste of blood from spending stressful nights at my job and doing writing work. Because I have written a book before, I gained enough courage to start writing my stories that I so wanted to write for a long time. I used Scrivener to outline my novel and map ideas down, which lasted for months before finally writing another book for Nanowrimo 2019. This time I wrote it on paper, and it took a few pens and pains around my digits to reach that juicy fifty thousand word mark. My novel draft wasn’t finished back then, and I had to write all of it again on my computer. That taught me a lesson that writing on paper is a waste of resources. That’s when I realised I skipped over a bunch of words while I counted my paper draft, and that made me so proud to be an actual novel writer.
Writing has now turned into my pleasurable hobby, which I edited and wrote my stories almost every day.
This year had been so slow, with the Pandemic blues and plenty of distractions and hardships. I am currently fixing my wellbeing after a stressful year at a startup incubation, and I’m currently doing my yoga practice every day. But I spent almost a year not only looping over my 2019 entry, but I also did half of my second book. That was before realising I had to shuffle the events around to make those books better. My 2018 entry? It was forgotten as my first book, for it was messy and not likely to read out as good.
National Novel Writing Month taught me so much as an aspiring writer. It gave me more courage to step out and write a book. It then boosted my self-awareness over my writing techniques and learning how to improve my craft. I spent more time reading books instead of playing video games all the time. Writing has now turned into my pleasurable hobby, which I edited and wrote my stories almost every day.
As for the event itself, I learnt lessons about it. It doesn’t guarantee a published book. It’s not a means to write a book, just to sell it before Christmas. After I did my 2018 entry, I wasn’t desperate to sell it straight away, for I wanted to edit it to ensure it was good enough to read. Same story for my 2019 entry.
It was a matter of finding editors and other forms of support to help fine-tune my works for release, but I wasn’t ready to take that step. I had to go through it a few times to improve my story, for it’s better to make it something I enjoy than having to rely on others to give an exam grade for my efforts. Once more, good books are made if the author enjoys writing them.
I encourage you to enter this year’s Nanowrimo if you believe you have a book inside you. It’s a way of testing to see if writing is fun for you. Writing a bunch of words every day and trying to keep above the competition is no easy task, but you will feel better than when you had that idea stuck inside your head.
It won’t guarantee overnight success for your work, however, for it would still need to be polished and folded into creases many times before publishing. Along with marketing, support and agents, all this is mostly homework done outside of the Nanowrimo site.
There’s a lot of communities available around the world that talk about the event. Their members even ask advice and for test reads of their work. You’ll be surprised how many people live in your area that also participates in Nanowrimo regularly.
They also give out fantastic rewards for reaching the word goal and win the event. You get coupons for writing software and services, including Scrivener, as well as an option to buy a special T-Shirt to commemorate your victory.
I know it’s a bit of a short notice now to outline your novel to write next month, but it’s never too late. Don’t worry about which best software or material to use for writing, just like I did a decade ago, just go on Word or Google Docs, and write. If you decide to go to Nanowrimo this year, be prepared for a rocky road trip up ahead.