Howdy, fellow writers!
“If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.”
NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month) kicks off on Monday (or Sunday night at midnight if your region is doing an event, mine is). As a reminder, the official site is here, and this year is virtual again due to the pandemic.
A lot of electrons have been spent discussing the techniques of writing (and preparing to write) throughout PrepTober. I wrote about plotting, mettle fatigue wrote about genre and dialog tags, not a lamb wrote about inspiration. And the Write On archives have many, many other discussions about writing.
But what about the challenge? That is, actually doing NaNoWriMo has a fixed goal of 50,000 words (1,667 per day for 30 days), and undertaking this goal requires making tradeoffs to carve the time out to write. Some people dive in and it Just Works For Them™, others crash and burn on the organizing side. (Note: even attempting it is a victory, whether one reaches the 50k or not. It is, after all, a self-challenge aimed at finding limitations. Or, more importantly, the lack thereof.)
Some participants neglect other important aspects: sleep, family, friends, healthy diet, and other aspects of life.
People returning to the challenge often take these into account starting the second year. Shopping in advance for healthy snacks and drinks, or specifying what time counts as writing time and family may not intrude, or declining to have lunch with coworkers to squeeze off a few paragraphs instead.
My first year, I planned the writing time out in advance, but didn’t think about other aspects like my parents visiting for Thanksgiving and needing to accommodate their presence (and their desire for mine): reread yesterday’s writing over breakfast, knock out 500 words over lunch, 1200 after dinner and spouse has gone to bed (yay, staggered sleep schedules!)
My second year, I was more conscious of both my writing speed and where I could find holes in my schedule. Since then, I’ve fallen into a pattern that works for me and my family.
One of our former MLs negotiated a sort of peace with her husband, where she was to be left alone for the hours required for NaNo (and he actually joined in at the write-ins, at least).
Another knows his limits and sacrifices sleep to make just enough extra time at night to get a little done (he has a long commute via public transportation but has difficulty writing on the train or bus), and he knows how much he can make up on weekends. Then, of course, spends December recovering, as do many participants.
I heard of one participant who saves her Halloween candy and eats one piece every 100 words, which handily disposes of both leftover candy and provides a reward structure.
Also, walking. Whether carving the time out from my work day, or setting it aside at home, the time, movement, and lack of distraction let me wrestle with complicated story or character elements without the pressure to put words on the page. Of course, it’s a fantastic break for one’s sitter, too.
NaNoWriMo is only a few days away. It is the last minute for any remaining preparation!
If you’ve tried NaNoWriMo before, what non-writing preparation are you now doing? Did it carry over into the rest of your writing year? If you haven’t, do you have any self-care suggestions for people attempting a serious, word-heavy undertaking?
Challenge: the intrepid heroes (your protagonists, the stock characters like Callow Youth and Stout Companion, or others) are planning for a Very Serious Undertaking. What are they preparing for that is not the expected steps to complete their quest?
Happy Writing!
(And if you are participating in NaNoWriMo, or just writing in November and want a public goal, feel free to chime in below with your goal to track. It is not a requirement, of course.)
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