Nanowrimo—why or why not?

I’ve written on Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) before. If you’ve hung out here for a few years you know that I participate every year. But why?

I knew I wanted to do a blog post on nano today, and I was trying to figure out what to write. What it is that you want to know. What you would ask me if you had the chance (and you can ask me in the comment section below. I’ll answer you!)

What I originally homed in on is why or why not to participate in Nanowrimo. Some writers have very strong opinions on the matter. Some people love nano. Some people hate it. Some people keep trying it and giving up, some try and succeed, and some wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.

My reasons for participating in Nanowrimo and in some of the other events that Nanowrimo has hosted over the years (Script Frenzy, Nanowrimo for young people, and Camp Nano) have changed over time.

My stats? I have been doing Nanowrimo and other hosted events for ten years. I have written 2.4 million words during these events. Where I originally found it difficult to get out the requisite 1,667 words per day (the number of words required to write 50,000 during the month of November,) that is now a laughably small number of words to me. I have written up to 13,000 words during a write-in day. I have written 6,000-8,000 words per day in a month where I knew I had a 125,000 word book to write in a month where I would lose almost a week to travel out of the country to a conference. (That book ended up being 150,000 words, and yes, I finished it in one month, even with the conference and some family issues.)

When I participated in Nanowrimo the first time, I was working full-time as a legal assistant and homeschooling. Writing was a sideline, a hobby. I was writing novels, but I had wanted to participate in Nanowrimo for a few years, and decided to make the plunge. What Nanowrimo gave me at that point was the opportunity to make writing a priority for the month. I would clear the decks of whatever else I could, make no social commitments in November, and put Christmas preparations off until December. I let my family know that I was doing it and that I had a word quota I needed to get done every day in order to pull it off. Emails and the Nanowrimo forums gave me encouragement and tips all along the way. On the old Nanowrimo website, it was easy to watch your buddies and see how they were scoring and what projects they were working on.

It was fun. I liked the energy and encouragement. I liked the “official” reason to put my writing first (well, at least a higher priority than it had been) for a month. In the end, I had a book (or the 50,000 word start to a book) to show for my work. I had not been writing a lot of words before that an it gave me a boost to see what I could accomplish in a month if I made the time with it.

For the next few years, I participated in Nanowrimo, Script Frenzy, and Camp Nano each year, dedicating three months to finding the time to get my writing projects completed. I got my son to participate in Script Frenzy as well, writing out the panels for a superhero comic book for homeschooling. We got Nanowrimo t-shirts and stickers.

As I began working toward establishing a writing/publishing business to see whether it was something I could eventually support myself and my family with, I knew that I could write three books a year during those three nano months, and figured I could edit three more books from my back catalogue a year, allowing me to publish six books per year. I think in the first year I published seven. Then eight the following year. I found that it was easier to write a fresh new book for publication than it was to rework and rewrite book that I had previously just written for self-entertainment. The next year I published twelve books, and since then, have written and published twelve books per year on a regular schedule. (Though last year, I started a novella series as well, so I wrote three novellas instead of one book in September 2020 and then again in July this year, so that my annual output was 14 books instead of 12.)

Where did Nanowrimo go in all of this? I kept participating. Instead of aiming for the official target of 50,000 words after the first year or two of nano, I aimed at completing the first draft, which was generally closer to 100,000 words. I had found it too easy to lose the momentum of nano in December and to let the unfinished book languish. Was there any reason to keep participating in nano if I was producing a book a month anyway, even without it?

I found that I still enjoyed the camaraderie and the excitement of Nanowrimo. It was fun to see new people trying it for the first time. To watch my graph climb over the course of a month. To have so many other people writing a novel at the same time as I was.

With the changes to the website, most of my nano chat is now in Facebook groups and Discord. And over the years, I have come across a number of people who hate Nanowrimo. They may feel pressured instead of encouraged. They may not be able to work to a goal of a number of words or certain length of time to write each day. They might have had bad experiences with other authors writing for nano, or have experienced anxiety or depression as a result of the push to produce during the busy holiday-prep season. And if you are one of those people, I don’t have any desire to push you into doing something that is going to make you angry or anxious or to cause friction with your family, schoolwork, or business. If you participate in nano, I would hope that it is because you get something out of it. Camaraderie, support, a reason to prioritize writing, the thrill of setting a goal and achieving it, discount coupons for writing software, stickers, shirts, or whatever makes you happy.

If you don’t like the goal of 50,000 words, you can be a “nano rebel” and set your own goal or non-goal. You can edit words already written. Write a poem, short story or blog post each day. Set aside a half hour or an hour to write or join a scheduled write-in each day. The goal should be to get something out of it, not to drive yourself to despair.

So for those who are nano-ing this month: Best of luck! Enjoy yourself!

And for those of you who are not nano-ing this month: Best of luck! Enjoy yourself!

According to the website, these are the books I have written during Nanowrimo or Camp Nano: