It’s November, that time of year when leaves turn colors and everyone in the world seems to commit to writing a novel NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. When the internet challenges you to write a novel in one month. 1667 words a day. 50 thousand words over the month. Everyone’s talking plot, word count and moving toward a completed novel.
But you have decided not to join.
Let’s talk about reasons not to join NaNoWriMo
If you don’t want to write a book this November, then don’t.
I wrote a book for NaNoWriMo 2016 because I had a solid reason to write it. You know that YA sci-fi novel I keep talking about? I wanted to write it. I also wanted to test a Five-Step Cheat Sheet To Write Your Book I’d created to make sure it worked before sharing it with other people. I became my own guinea pig and tested it on myself when I used it to prepare for NaNoWriMo.
In 2017, I was finishing another book. The Writer’s Roadmap. In 2018, I published it. The last thing I needed was to start something new. So I didn’t.
Clear goals are critical if you want to succeed as a writer. You have to make choices between projects if you want to stay focused. The last thing you want to do is go off on a tangent or hop from project to project, and writing a whole book, a shitty first draft of a book no less — is distracting as hell.
If NaNoWriMo isn’t in your plan, then don’t do it. Focus instead on what best serves you and your writing. There are plenty of other ways to commit to writing this November and use the online momentum to move forward in your own work.
Here are seven ways you can commit to writing in November or any other month for that matter.
Find your community for accountability
One of the best things about NaNoWriMo is the supportive community. Even if you don’t take part in the groups and connections on the Nano website itself, you’ll run into people who are writing with you. You share writing counts and cheer each other on to meet your daily word goals.
Twitter is one of the best places on the internet to connect with writers, editors, and creatives of all kinds. You can brush elbows with the author of your favorite book, meet people who make you laugh and find resources for writing, pitching and anything else you could possibly want.
You can join Twitterchats, where you follow along via a hashtag and join in any number of conversations about the writing ife from #kidlit to #scifi to #bookmarketingchat and more. Here’s a pretty extensive index of the kinds of chats you can join.
You can also follow writing hashtags like #amwriting or the #5amwritersclub so you can connect with writers who are writing along with you.
If Twitter isn’t your thing, join a writing group or create your own, meeting in person or virtually. Your group allows you to set goals, share wins and alternately complain and revel in the writing life. You can also join me and a fabulous and supportive group of writers in The Workshop, my private online writing group.
Commit to writing every day.
NaNoWriMo helps you develop a daily writing practice. Even if you don’t continue the same pace after the month ends, you learn an incredible amount by writing every day for an extended amount of time. You learn to write quickly. You learn to brainstorm. You learn to focus. And other lessons NaNoWriMo teaches.
You can learn just as much by choosing another project for your daily focus. Some people write a short story a day. Others write and send one pitch every day. Or you can write a poem, read a book or really anything that fits your overall writing goals.
As long as you feel challenged and write consistently over the course of a month, your writing will grow.
Share something you’ve written.
It’s not easy sharing work, especially if you don’t have experience or lack confidence (which so many of us do). Take a leap and release your writing into the wild. Check out some online writing platforms such as Medium. Ask for feedback from friends or on social media.
Commit to putting something out there daily or even weekly for feedback and to share your words with the world.
Give feedback
One of the best ways to improve your writing and editing skills is by giving feedback on other people’s work. No one ever takes me seriously when I say this, but it’s true. I’ve learned as much — if not more — from reading writing-in-progress than I have from reading and writing my own work. When you can see the good in an unfinished piece of writing and clearly articulate what’s works and what doesn’t, you develop a type of critical thinking that forces you to make connections. You learn to see a cohesive vision in writing.
Make a plan for your writing life
The first step of any writing life is to create a plan. Know what you want, set an Objective and choose Goals to get you there. I go into detail of how to make a plan that also includes Strategies and Measures so you can know your plan is working in my book The Writer’s Roadmap: Paving the Way To Your Ideal Writing Life..
Write and finish all your blog posts for the next three months.
Or six months. Or if you don’t have a blog, start one. It can be one you create from scratch using your own server. Or you can use Medium or on the Thrive Global community platform or anywhere you want. The key is to start writing and share your writing online.
Finish something you started.
Why start a new project entirely from scratch when you already have pages of writing sitting there, waiting for you? How long ago did you start that thing again anyway? It’s time to pick it up that story, book, pitch, poem and take another look. Finish it.
The most important part of this November exercise is to dive into your writing life and write regularly over the course of the month. You’ll be amazed at how much you learn and at what you create.
