Turning this year’s NaNoWriMo writing challenge on its head
Because writers aren’t always very good at following the rules
A year ago, I took the plunge and participated in my first ever National Novel Writing Month — NaNoWriMo for short — writing challenge. I wrote a first draft of a Young Adult Fantasy novel, the backstory to one of my favorite characters from back when I played Dungeons & Dragons (oh, how I miss those days).
It’s still a work in progress. I’ve shown it to a few people, integrated their feedback, and participated in PitchWars and Author Mentor Match but without getting assigned to a mentor.
Now, I’m working on finding an informal mentor. Either way, the goal is to pitch my novel in the first half of next year. I’ll try publishing houses (big 5 or boutique? not sure yet), with the backup plan of self-publishing.
In 2017, my goal was to write 50,000 words as a way to prove to myself that I could write a book. Not only did that happen, but I loved doing it. It’s safe to say that it is thanks to NaNoWriMo that I consider myself an author.
“It’s safe to say that it is thanks to NaNoWriMo that I consider myself an author.”
It makes sense, therefore, that I would take part in NaNoWriMo again this year.
My take on NaNoWriMo 2018
This year, I am focusing on a different genre: the memoir.
Is it cheating to write non-fiction for a novel-writing challenge? Maybe. Does it make the writing easier? The answer might surprise you: not really.
It is true that it feels like a different writing exercise — in some ways, it is less complex because I am only presenting my own point of view, in my own voice. Then again, that’s part of the challenge.
Today is Day 5. I haven’t done my day’s writing yet, but by midnight last night I was just short of the 6,666 words NaNo’s chart says I should be at if I was pacing myself and found the perfect rhythm to finish exactly 50,000 words by November 31st.
Whatever the next few weeks hold, I am grateful for the nudge NaNoWriMo provides (I’ve always found external deadlines extremely useful). I have high hopes for this book, too.
A Method to the Madness (ish)
Just as I tend to have “my eyes bigger than my stomach” when it comes to food (that’s a literal translation of a French expression), the same is true for writing. I’m juggling more writing projects than is sane — and I may already have plotted out potential stories through to NaNoWriMo 2022 (it was a joke, but I kept the list).
This is all the more true given that being a writer is just one of the various hats I wear. The others include being a project management and communications consultant, doing pro-bono work with two science-focused NGOs, and starting a farmstay ecotourism business in Portugal.
Isn’t that often the case with writers, though?
I like the intensity, the madness, the endless to-do lists (in fact, I love lists). And somehow, it feels like if I find just the right amount of projects to juggle, I might get them all done.
If I have too little to do, I will read and take naps until the cows come home. Too much, and the same thing is likely to happen.
So, from that happy medium, here’s to #NaNoWriMo2018 and to continuously cultivating a daily writing habit.
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Did you do it other years? I would love to know what you thought of the experience, what you liked and didn’t like. If you have a writing mentor, how did you find him or her? (In other words, if you’re also a writer, feel free to reach out, because I’d love to connect!)
