These Bestselling NaNoWriMo Authors Will Help You Hit 50,000 Words
It’s almost November, and that means that it’s almost time for NaNoWriMo. For the twenty-first year in a row, writers will challenge themselves to write a novel in just thirty days.
What does writing 50,000 words in a month even look like? One thousand six hundred and sixty seven words per day, to be precise. Whether you stick to a daily word count or plow through at an irregular pace, getting a novel out of your brain and onto the page is a daunting task, especially when the task is compressed into thirty days.
Yet the momentum of NaNoWriMo might be exactly what you need to accomplish this monumental feat. Writing can be a lonely undertaking, but when you sign up for NaNoWriMo, you’ll be able to connect with others who are chugging along right there with you. And let’s face it, for a lot of us, peer pressure is a useful motivating force.
And the thing is, it works! Every year, people write novels during NaNoWriMo. Some of them even go on to be bestsellers. We’ve compiled some advice shared by some of the most successful NaNoWriMo alumni. But before you read their advice, beware. You might decide to spend all of November writing after you read what they have to say!
Rainbow Rowell, author of NaNoWriMo bestseller, Fangirl, shares a bit of her NaNoWriMo experience:
“
I was very skeptical about NaNoWriMo at first.
That’s not writing, I thought, that’s just piling up words.
But then I thought about how wonderful it would be to have a pile of 50,000 words…
I set three goals:
1. To write every day.
2. To write at least 2,000 words every day.
3. And—this was crucial for me—to keep moving forward.
During NaNoWriMo, I never left the world of the book long enough to lose momentum.
I stayed immersed in the story all month long, and that made everything come so much smoother than usual. I got a much quicker grasp on the main characters and their voices. The plotlines shot forward…”
NaNoWriMo helped me push past so many of my doubts and insecurities and bad habits.
”
Sara Gruen, author of the NaNoWriMo bestseller, Water for Elephants, commiserates with fellow NaNoWriMo-ers:
“
You know, the “no editing” rule, and the “it’s okay to write a really bad first draft” rule, and the “move around the story as much as you want” rule. I was dutifully handing that advice out to my nano’ing friends, but I wasn’t taking it myself and I was (and am) 5,640 words behind where I should be according to my little spreadsheet. But today, I am going to jump around and write only the fun bits! I’m going to write about food fights, and disastrous sex, and escaping in-laws, and apes with unlimited credit!
WE can do this. However far behind you are, take comfort in knowing that there is somebody else out there in the same boat, and look for that next fun scene. And then the next. And if that doesn’t work, set someone on fire. In your book, of course.
”
Hugh Howey, author of NaNoWriMo bestseller, Wool, shares some encouraging words:
“
I can say with confidence that I wouldn’t have written the same books if I’d written them any other way. The compressed nature of a NaNo-novel makes for a tighter plot. It reinforces the importance of not taking a day off. NaNoWriMo isn’t a writing exercise for me. It trained me to be a pro.
The festival of carpal tunnel that is NaNoWriMo has been the greatest thing to happen to me as a writer. For the past three years, it has led to books that I’ve been proud to publish. It has led to wonderful and lasting friendships. It got me in touch with my local library, made me feel like a hero to young writers, and taught me the importance of advertising my progress to the world.
”
Wise words from Julie Murphy, author of NaNoWriMo bestseller, Side Effects May Vary:
“
I tell you all this, brave novel-writing soul, because whether your thirty-day novel is The Book or just an exercise that you shelve in the dustiest corner of your computer, I promise you there is something to be gained from this experience (besides the feeling that someone is scraping words from your brain with a scalpel). No one writes a good novel in a month. Good novels happen in the days, months, and years after the first draft—but I can promise you moments. Lots of little, magical storytelling moments that will either carry you into revisions or follow you into the next project. And those moments of treasure are worth all the heaps of trash.
”
Carrie Ryan, author of NaNoWriMo bestseller, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, shares what she loves about NaNoWriMo:
“
Here’s why NaNo matters so much to me: First, I never expected The Forest of Hands and Teeth to sell. I was convinced no one would ever be interested. I’d spent so much of 2006 trying to write a book that might sell and I don’t know if I ever would have “wasted” time on a project I didn’t think would go anywhere. Except that NaNo had given me this freedom to just take a month and write. On a project that probably wouldn’t sell. And using a brand new voice.
If I lost one month out of the year on a project that would never sell — so what? I *loved* writing Forest, and in November I got to indulge in that. I got to experiment on a new voice and story without feeling like I was diverting from the course I’d set for myself.
While “winning” NaNo means writing 50k, to me the real “win” is that for a month you put writing first. That November, I came home every day after work and I wrote (well, almost every day). Because I expected it of myself, because I enjoyed watching my word meter tick up, and because I had other people watching that word meter tick up too. Like I said, I loved writing Forest and NaNo gave me a reason to indulge in that love.
I get asked all the time what advice I have for writers and it is this: write. It’s so easy to talk about writing, think about writing, plan to write, and so easy to somehow just not end up writing. It’s easy to find other things to fill that time: work, cleaning, reading, the internet, balancing the checkbook, friends, family. I’m not saying these things aren’t important — they very much are. But I know so many writers who put writing at the bottom of the “to-do list” and never at the top.
NaNoWriMo is an excuse to put writing at the top. It’s a month where your goal is to indulge in writing. You can allow your house to get a little messier, you’re allowed to microwave dinner, you’re allowed to turn off the TV and tell friends that maybe you’ll take a raincheck on that movie.
You’re allowed to put writing first.
”
Do you have your own pile of words that you’d like to turn into something? Whether you participate in NaNoWriMo or not, we love helping writers see their ideas through into a perfectly published book. Wherever you are in the writing process, SPS can help.
Sources:
https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talk-from-sara-gruen
https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talk-from-rainbow-rowell
https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talk-from-julie-murphy
https://blog.nanowrimo.org/post/43008781435/hugh-howey-how-nanowrimo-trained-me-to-be-a
https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talk-from-sara-gruen