writing a novel in a month?

Like other have said, the value of NaNoWriMo depends on each individual author.

I love NaNo. Last year was my first year, and I won. I'm definitely doing it again this year.

Last year, I wrote approximately 54,000 words during the month. Then, I continued with the MS until it reached 106k. From there, I edited intensively, and got it down to 88k. This process ended in August of this year.

So, for me, it's a great way to kickstart a novel, but it's far from the finished product. I plan to use NaNoWriMo this year to write a majority of ISA. The end result will not be a finished novel. However, I've found that most of my work from the month is usable.

What you put into NaNo is what you get out of it. If you do follow "dirty tricks" or do whatever is necessary to reach 50k, your experience won't be as worthwhile. It's not about winning - not IMO, at least. It's about writing. Write what's best for you and your book. If you end the month with a sizable amount of quality writing - whether it's 10k or 100k - it should be counted as a success.

One thing I love about NaNo is the community aspect. I didn't do much last year, but I plan to be involved this year. On Wednesday, I'll be attending HalloNaNoWeen, where approx. 200 authors meet at a local Denny's and write from 10pm-2am. There are door prizes, word wars, costume contests, and more. I'll also be attending a weekly write-in from 3:30pm-6:30pm on campus. On Black Friday, I'll be attending an overnight writing "retreat" at a fellow NaNoer's house. These are all opportunities I wouldn't have had without NaNoWriMo.

With these things being the case, I wholeheartedly recommend NaNoWriMo. It's not for everyone, but it does help a lot of people. I suggest giving it a try and seeing what it can do for you.

Hi, I've only just joined this forum recently and I wrote my draft in just over 1 month (85k).

I'm thinking of joining Nanowrimo because I'm hearing so much about it, but other than motivation what other benefits are there (if any)?

Do other people get to read your work? Does anyone critique it? Is it optional? Sorry, I'm just not quite sure as to how it all works.

Nano isn't set up as a writers' workshop. It's more of a RA RA RA community to encourage people to write. However, if you participate in the groups and/or forums you may meet people who will be prepared to look at your work.

Kayley said:

On Wednesday, I'll be attending HalloNaNoWeen, where approx. 200 authors meet at a local Denny's and write from 10pm-2am. There are door prizes, word wars, costume contests, and more. I'll also be attending a weekly write-in from 3:30pm-6:30pm on campus. On Black Friday, I'll be attending an overnight writing "retreat" at a fellow NaNoer's house. These are all opportunities I wouldn't have had without NaNoWriMo.

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That actually sounds pretty awesome, and I wish there was that kind of community in the UK. It seems that here writing is a solitary pursuit, and writers groups are few and far beteen. I did attend a writer's holiday once, but it was mainly full of retired professionals writing their memoirs or having a stab at creative writing for a hobby. Not to look like an arrogant arse (which I probably am sometimes) but I was far ahead of them in terms of ability. Several tutors and guest writers agreed that I probably wasn't going to get much benefit from it, except in terms of networking with people in the industry (which actually did little good either, except as a confidence boost).

And I don't know what a Dennys is, but it seems everyone in America goes there to hang out. It must be very crowded...

Kallithrix said:

That actually sounds pretty awesome, and I wish there was that kind of community in the UK. It seems that here writing is a solitary pursuit, and writers groups are few and far beteen. I did attend a writer's holiday once, but it was mainly full of retired professionals writing their memoirs or having a stab at creative writing for a hobby. Not to look like an arrogant arse (which I probably am sometimes) but I was far ahead of them in terms of ability. Several tutors and guest writers agreed that I probably wasn't going to get much benefit from it, except in terms of networking with people in the industry (which actually did little good either, except as a confidence boost).

And I don't know what a Dennys is, but it seems everyone in America goes there to hang out. It must be very crowded...

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Denny's is a chain restaurant with locations all over the US and the rest of America too. Having said that it's very crowded sometimes.

It may be called national, but it's actually international. If you check out the Nanowrimo forums at nanowrimo.org and sign up, you can pick a region or multiple regions and see the forums for those regions. there are many in the UK.

Philip K. Dick used to be able to get high on acid and churn out like 70,000 words a day ... allegedly

Speed. It was speed.

I can't imagine that it would have been easy to type, with the keyboard turning into a marshmallow and the walls breathing like that.

Tirjasdyn said:

Denny's is a chain restaurant with locations all over the US and the rest of America too. Having said that it's very crowded sometimes.

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Heh. Was maybe employing a bit of British sarcasm there...

Tirjasdyn said:

It may be called national, but it's actually international. If you check out the Nanowrimo forums at nanowrimo.org and sign up, you can pick a region or multiple regions and see the forums for those regions. there are many in the UK.

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Oh, I don't want to do NaNo, I just wish there were more writing groups that physically meet up near me. I can hang out on online forums til I'm in 4 day old pyjamas and can't remember when I last ate, but actually finding real writers that exist in 3D is more difficult. (if I did meet them I'd definitely get dressed first, don't worry)

Every year after the first NaNoWriMo I did in 2006 I've told myself "oh, I don't need to do it this year. I've done it and won it. I don't have anything to prove." And yet every year since, I've been there. And will be again for this one. My outline is done and gently simmering. I'm ready! I think I actually outline more than usual for NaNoWriMo, to at least try to forestall grinding to a halt not knowing where to go next. (Doesn't always happen, but I try!)

It's definitely an event everyone can do for their own reasons. Me, I'm a pro writer now and do it to reset my writing routine, break bad habits, clear out stuff I'm doing out of ritual and habit and focus myself totally on writing for a month. For others it might be the first time they've written fiction since school and it's all about liberating all that pent up creativity that they get no chance to express otherwise. It's also a great way to destroy the demon Perfectionism, who tells us we shouldn't try anything we might not be great at first time out. I'm jealous of the teenagers doing it, starting out on what might be a lifetime of writing, and wish it had been around when I was their age, so I could have actually started writing and learning then, not just thinking about it. No, they probably won't produce the next bestselling novel, but they'11 learn so much from doing it.

It doesn't just teach you about writing. It teaches you that you can if you put your mind to it, take on a big project and get it done, by being disciplined and working hard. It doesn't matter if you're writing a novel about a crime fighting penguin who travels through time. if you get it done in that month, resisting the siren calls of going down the pub, or vegging out in front of the TV instead, you've learned something valuable. The day after day aspect of NaNoWriMo is the key, I think. Writing 1667 words in a day isn't that hard, even with a day job or school or family to take up your time. Doing that for two or three days in a row, maybe a week, again, not so hard. But keeping at it for the entire month until the work is done - that's hard and the people who manage it are an elite. Time travelling penguin detectives notwithstanding.

Of course it's possible. For many of my friends, both published and not, 50k a month (or more) is a perfectly normal writing speed. My last book was written in the space of a month, including several days off while I waited for feedback from my agent, and ended up at 75k (and sold after much revision).

That it's possible doesn't mean it's necessary. Different authors operate at different speeds, and forcing yourself into a pace that doesn't suit you isn't good for either your novels or your mental health. If you've never tried NaNo, I highly recommend it; the frenzy, the support, the motivation--it's awesome. If you've tried speedwriting before and loathed it, I'd pass NaNo by. It'll probably just make you unhappy. There is zero shame in writing at a slower pace.

I am in for the 4th time - won only once, but that one was worth it.
For me it is an opportunity at the begin of the winter to get me to sit down and WRITE daily.
Plus: the regional forum is important to me, we are very few here and after one or two years know each other at least online.

I'm jealous of all the lucky regional stuff for people to connect. I was never in a place where the regional meetups were viable for me. They almost always required a minimum of a 90 minute drive for me. And they were never at a time that I was off (when I had a job).

Now that I have the time, the nearest regional meetup is three hours away. *sigh*

jvill said:

Hi, I've only just joined this forum recently and I wrote my draft in just over 1 month (85k).

I'm thinking of joining Nanowrimo because I'm hearing so much about it, but other than motivation what other benefits are there (if any)?

Do other people get to read your work? Does anyone critique it? Is it optional? Sorry, I'm just not quite sure as to how it all works.

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Buffysquirrel said:

Nano isn't set up as a writers' workshop. It's more of a RA RA RA community to encourage people to write. However, if you participate in the groups and/or forums you may meet people who will be prepared to look at your work.

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There are post-November critique forums but I've never participated in them. I'd neverput something up that wasn't even first draft, much less Draft Zero, material, but that's just me.

You need direction. You need a setup/outline/idea already in mind. If you expect to wake up Nov 1st and sit down to write for the challenge, you're going to have a bad time.

Not necessarily. Some people never use outlines, and they do just fine.

There's even a term for them: "pantsers".

I never outline

but you do need to have a concept and an idea of where you want your story to go.

Walter White said:

You need direction. You need a setup/outline/idea already in mind. If you expect to wake up Nov 1st and sit down to write for the challenge, you're going to have a bad time.

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Cliff Face said:

Not necessarily. Some people never use outlines, and they do just fine.

There's even a term for them: "pantsers".

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What Cliff said. Some people can write just fine -- and very quickly -- without any planning or outlining.

Tigerlilly79 said:

but you do need to have a concept and an idea of where you want your story to go.

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Er, "every writer is different,"

Personally, I don't have anything. No title, no characters, no plot direction, nothing.

That's just how I write. Nothing to worry about there. My subconcious is on the problem, and I'll sit down tomorrow and just start writing.

Tigerlilly79 said:

but you do need to have a concept and an idea of where you want your story to go.

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Some folks have that ahead of time; some folks come to the keyboard with no clue and deal with it as they go.

It all depends on how the individual works.

For myself, I still stand in complete awe and admiration for those who wing it from the start, growing the concept as they write. I have to have some sort of preplanning in place prior to starting or I will peeter out quickly.

I'm planning on importing my WIP that's about 40k words deep. Another 50k will put me pretty close to a finished first draft. My question, is this cheating or not in the spirit of nanowrimo?

Grunkins said:

I'm planning on importing my WIP that's about 40k words deep. Another 50k will put me pretty close to a finished first draft. My question, is this cheating or not in the spirit of nanowrimo?

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According to the rules, you have to start from scratch and not continue an existing project.

However, it isn't considered cheating, it is rebellion. There is a subforum on the site for people engaged in different forms of rebellion (continuing a WIP, writing non-fiction, etc). At the end of the day, the point of the challenge is to push yourself and get the words down on the page, so even if you aren't following the letter of the law it is still encouraged and welcome.

blueobsidian said:

According to the rules, you have to start from scratch and not continue an existing project.

However, it isn't considered cheating, it is rebellion. There is a subforum on the site for people engaged in different forms of rebellion (continuing a WIP, writing non-fiction, etc). At the end of the day, the point of the challenge is to push yourself and get the words down on the page, so even if you aren't following the letter of the law it is still encouraged and welcome.

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Thanks for that info. I wanted to join but I had already started my book last month. I'm at 30,000 words. 50,000 should complete it, finger's crossed. I just signed up. You'll find me in their rebels forum. Thanks again.