Write On! Time to think about NaNoWriMo.

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Thursday October 18, 2018 · 5:00 PM PDT

2018/10/18 · 17:00

Hello, writers. NaNoWriMo starts two weeks from today, so it’s a good time to start thinking about your goals.

This will be the 10th time we’ve run our own NaNoWriMo here on WO! For the last few years, we’ve also been doing DaKoWriMo (Daily Kos Writing Month) in January, since for many people that’s a more convenient writing month.

You can sign up on the NaNoWriMo website, or you can just do it unofficially here at WO! Or both.

The goal on the website is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. However, in our adapted leftwing looseygoosey WO! version, you set your own goal. It can be a higher or lower word count, or it can be something other than word count. Goals people have used in the past have included:

- Writing 100k words.

- Writing 15k words.

- Revising a manuscript.

- Sorting through all the manuscripts on their hard-drive or in their drawer to decide which one(s) to work on.

- Composing a query letter and querying a certain number of agents or editors.

- Planning a novel.

- Outlining a non-fiction book.

- you get the idea

If you do decide to shoot for 50k words, know that it works best if you’ve already got the story pretty firmly in your mind. Otherwise one tends to sputter out at about 20k.

Plan, too, on shooting for 2,000 words a day rather than 1,667, as there are bound to be days when life interferes. (Plus Thanksgiving.)

Instead of a Tonight’s Challenge, tell us what you’re thinking about for a NaNoWriMo project. You don’t have to decide right now. Just give us the options you’re weighing.

Write On! will be a regular weekly diary (Thurs 8 pm eastern, 5pm pacific) until it isn't.

Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.

Check out our slate of Daily Kos-endorsed candidates

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