Having given up interacting on social media for Lent, and then taken part in Sugar Free September and done the #OctoberLetters project, I like the idea of having a new challenge for November.
For those who aren’t aware, November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. It’s a month when aspiring writers all over the world commit to writing a 50,000-word novel in a month. I don’t think I’ve got it in me to write a novel just yet, but I have been meaning to write a book. It’s one of those things I keep saying I’ll do.
I like the idea of getting into the discipline of writing every day, and when I was at Brit Mums Live author Rowan Coleman told us, “you have to write all the bad words to get to the good words.” I am hoping that if I can write a set number of words every single day, then at the end of it I may well have a lot of rubbish – but also hopefully the proper beginnings of that book I’ve been trying to write.
I know a lot of people take part in NaNoWriMo, but it’s never sat well with me to churn out that many words in the space of a month. I don’t want or expect to have a book written by the end of November. Having read this post, I expect my book to take a lot longer than a month to finish! Also, 50,000 words in a month is a minimum of 1600-odd in a day. I don’t feel that is in any way achievable for me right now, considering all the other writing I do on a daily basis!
I’m not setting myself a ridiculous target; I’d rather set one that is easily achievable and then exceed it if I can. Therefore, my target will be 500 words per day.
That might not sound a lot, but I write 500-word blog posts for clients most days, as well as maintaining this blog – so I tend to write upwards of 1000 words per day as it is; just not on the same subject every day, and not with the end goal of writing a book!
I’m still looking for a challenge for December, so all suggestions gratefully received. Or I could take a month off and begin the bonkers challenges again in January.
If you’re taking part in NaNoWriMo I’d love to hear your thoughts
7 Comments
Leigh - Headspace Perspective · 01/11/2014 at 14:28
Ooh, that’s a good challenge! They say writing is like any other skill – you need to exercise it regularly to improve. That amount of words a day does sound like a lot, though! 500 words a day sounds much more manageable. It’s more important to enjoy what you do rather than beat yourself up for not achieving a difficult target. Good luck! #Weekendbloghop
Lisa - Four Walls, Rainy Days · 01/11/2014 at 19:11
I think 500 is a lot more realistic; I’ve tried Nanowrimo before and it was hard – I got to 22,000 with a struggle! Yours is a lot more similar to my challenge, a blog post a day, roughly the same length anyway! Hope it goes well for you!
Tim · 02/11/2014 at 12:04
Good luck. I’ve shied away from NaNoWriMo in the past – and am avoiding it again this year – simply because I just don’t have the hours to do it properly. I just did a quick calculation and worked out that I wrote close to 40,000 words on various blogs in the month of October, so to even attempt a 50,000-word project on top of this would probably kill me. I’m so impressed with anyone who manages to do this though. I’m sure you’ll surprise yourself with what you come up with. Look forward to hearing more about your progress.
Sara · 02/11/2014 at 15:15
Oh best of luck I never heard of NaNoWriMo til this weekend so it’s a bit late for me to jump on it but I may keep it in mind for next year. #weekendbloghop
Sara · 02/11/2014 at 15:16
Ooo best of luck, I hadn’t heard if NaNoWriMo til this weekend so it’s a bit late to jump on it but will keep it in mind for next year :) #weekendbloghop
Candace · 04/11/2014 at 00:38
If love to be able to sit down and write a post of this length everyday but life takes over. My blogging tends to be sporadic as it’s not my main job and often gets negelcted.
I agree 50,000 is a lot to write in a month and I do question the quality of what someone would be writing, however, I’m sure it is good to sometimes just get things on paper and then edit and tweet what you have written at a later date.
Good luck of the challenge you have set yourself and I look forward to reading
Ty@SingleParentsNow.com · 15/11/2014 at 20:19
Sounds like a great plan especially for inspiring authors. However, I don’t have enough time to write a 50,000 thousand word novel in a month .