I’ve been meaning to get a blog live on my website for some time now and haven’t done it yet, but the beginning of my favourite writing event of the year seems like as good a time as any to start! I thought it might be helpful, as somebody who has been doing NaNoWriMo consistently since 2005 (well, since 2004 but we don’t count that first year) to put together a kind of tips and tricks post, which might be helpful for anybody who is doing NaNo for the first time, or perhaps anybody who needs a bit of a boost.
So without further a-do, here are the top things I have learnt during fifteen years of taking part in National Novel Writing Month.
1. Write Every Day (if you are able)
This one isn’t mandatory, obviously, but in my experience of writing novels at a fair pace, it’s really helpful for me to not take too many days off. There are exceptions to this, but I’ve found that writing every day, even if it’s only a sentence or two, can be really beneficial for two main reasons. Firstly, if you write every day you can remain immersed in your story in a way that you can’t if you are dipping in and out. It’ll allow you to keep story details in your head and also give you a way to develop plot and character in an organic way. Once you start taking days off it’s surprising the amount of tiny details you might forget, which doesn’t mean you can’t keep notes but it’s just a more efficient use of your time if you’re not constantly having to go back and fact-check your own work.
The second reason to write every day is another very obvious one, but one which I think is worth saying: it just feels so good to have written! If you write every day it will keep your momentum up because your word count will be climbing which in itself can be hugely motivating! Of course this isn’t to say that you can’t take days off! But during NaNo specifically, when the daily goal means that you have to write 1667 words a day, any day off will dramatically increase how many you have to write going forward. If you want to take regular days off (ie have a writing weekend) then I would always advise people to build that into their daily writing goal and calculate how many words that means you need to write a day. If you know you’ll only be writing 5 days a week then it makes sense to up your goal for every one of those five days so you’re not scrambling on the fifth day to catch up.
And if you can’t write every day for physical or mental health reasons, then I would suggest trying to do something book-related on those days. Build your writing playlist, make a Pinterest board, go for a walk or a nice long shower and just think about your book for five minutes. You’ll be surprised how much it’ll help you to stay in the world you’re creating!
2. Write More When You Have Energy
Okay, this one might seem like a no-brainer, but bear with me here… When you set out to write a novel in a month (or two months, or six), or to write every day, this is a big challenge. You’re setting out to write a whole book, and that’s no small thing! Even writers who write all the time sometimes forget that. But it is, and it’s tiring, and a month (or three, or six) is a long time. So you need to capitalise on the energy when you have it. Often this means really gunning for it at the beginning when you’re fresh and excited, but might also mean working out the scenes that you’re excited about and working towards them. Don’t burn out, but try to build a buffer when you can. If you’re on a roll, keep going if you feel you’re able to (don’t just stop because you’ve hit your daily goal) and it’ll mean that on days when writing is really hard and you’re running out of motivation and inspiration you have a few words in the bag. It seems obvious but the amount of times I get to week three and am just exhausted?? I’m always grateful for that buffer I’ve built. I usually aim for a nice round 2k a day to start, which really helps down the line. I would also recommend things like stickers and chocolate as excellent ways to trick yourself into writing just a Few More Words.
3. Find Pockets of Time Everywhere
I’m not kidding. One of the ways I find success with NaNo is to find tiny pockets of time everywhere in my day. And they don’t have to be big. With a little practice you can learn to ease into plotting or writing a paragraph while you’re waiting for the bus, brushing your hair, or making dinner. Not all writing time is WRITING time. Sometimes thinking time is just as important, and these little pockets of moments through a day can be really helpful to keep your head immersed in your novel. And if you’re really struggling, wake up half an hour early. It sucks, but you’d be surprised how many people swear by this tip. Honestly, the thought of waking up early makes me so queasy that I’ll willingly find other pockets of time through the day so it works as a deterrent for me…
4. Know Your Pattern
This is a little trickier for first-time writers, but for those of us who have been doing this a while it starts to become easy to see that when you are writing, patterns often form. For example, I know that the first 20,000 words for me are the easiest, and so I try to write them as fast as I can. For me these are the “exploration” words, where everything is new!! and exciting!! and I’m full of energy (see tip #2). Around the 30,000 mark I start to slow down. This is when I’m starting to get into the intricacies of plot and character development and everything feels a bit complex. But a few good chapters here that I’m looking forward to can often push me through. Around 45,000 words is when I start to struggle. The middle of the book always feels soggy, like wading through treacle. Why does anybody care about my characters? Are they even consistent anyway?? I wish I’d gone back and edited that chapter before… Etc etc. But I push through them because I know that there’s a brief respite around 60,000-75,000 where things start to come together. I know my characters now and their actions come more easily to me. And by 75,000 I’m struggling with the ending but I’m SO. CLOSE. TO. THE. END. that I can use that momentum to drag me through.
Everybody’s writing journey is different, and every book is different too, but I’ve learned that these patterns are fairly predictable. If I hit 22,000 words and I’m starting to flag, but the plot seems fairly fast-moving, I might think “ah, it’s the early 30ks” and be gentle with myself for a while. And then later I might realise that this draft seems shorter than the others, which was why I hit my slump early. Knowing about these patterns allows you to be prepared for them. I know I’ll need chocolate and coffee, but also that it will pass! And that’s reassuring as heck.
5. Have fun
This is the last rule because it is the most important of them all! If you’re not having fun in some capacity or other, dial it back. There’s nothing wrong with lowering your goal or reaching out to friends if you’re struggling. The more fun you’re having, the more you will write. It’s honestly as simple as that. Allow yourself to make mistakes, write something silly you know will get cut in the editing, and absolutely ABSOLUTELY do not go back and edit during November!!! If you’re feeling the urge to chop, remember that you might be able to use it later so either move it into a separate folder (and still count it later if you’re heading for 50k) or do what I do: bold/highlight/flag it in some way so you can come back to it. I use [[two square brackets]] around things I want to come back and check later. It’s easy to search for in the manuscript and means I can keep ploughing on with a scene secure in the knowledge that later I’ll be able to find that restaurant I wanted to research a name for or the character whose eye colour I couldn’t remember. Easy!