A 50,000 word manuscript written in one month? Sounds impossible. Only, come November, it’s not.
It’s that time of year where writers’ everywhere band together for National Novel Writing Month – better known as NaNoWriMo – turning pockets of free time into productive writing and doing whatever they can to reach the 1,700 daily word target that will accumulate throughout the month.
It’s like CrossFit Games’ quest to find the fittest man/woman alive, only more people win simultaneously, and it’s better because we get to wear our pyjamas while we do it. That is, unless you’re one of a number of critics who dislike the flood of manuscripts by would-be-authors slapping the desks of editors around the world come December.
Criticisms aside, it’s a striking example of our capacity for creativity and applauded for its ability to bring together communities of writers – and has also led to the publication of some wonderful books.
‘It’s taught me to learn to silence that inner critic – even though I still struggle with that – and I’ve met some wonderful people through it all,’ said author Alison Evans, who has participated in NaNoWriMo almost every year since 2009. All three of Evans’ books – Ida (2017), Highway Bodies (2019) and Euphoria Kids (2020) – started as NaNoWriMo projects.
‘The first time I tried NaNoWriMo I realised how freeing it was to be able to write without overthinking every word of a draft. I actually find it harder to complete now,’ they said.
In Evans’ experience, it’s important to let go of the impressive 50,000-word goal. Instead, they now focus on getting a first draft started. ‘I used to get really worried about not being able to finish NaNoWriMo, but now that I’ve failed three times, I’m comforted by the fact that it doesn’t really matter if I finish or not – there’s less anxiety this way!’
Over time, Evans’ writing process has changed, and they advise other participants to approach NaNoWriMo without the anxiety – but with all the fun it encourages.
‘I used to write the whole first draft and then edit it all, but now I’m finding I’ll write maybe 20-30k words in NaNoWriMo, redraft that, and then write the end through the next few months,’ Evans said.
‘Of course, it’s fun to reach your goals every day, and to get the big 50,000 words, but if you don’t it’s not the end of the world. Sometimes life just gets in the way! No matter how many words you end up writing, it’ll be more than what you had at the start of the month.’
‘No matter how many words you end up writing, it’ll be more than what you had at the start of the month.’
– author Alison Evans
Around this time each year, author Jane Rawson meets with a group of friends for NaNoWriMo. They set their own rules; they don’t use the forums and one year chose to write 20,000 words by hand.
‘We just run our own show. And some years we do it in a different month or set a different word-count, depending on where our lives are at,’ Rawson said.
‘There are years when mental health, family situations or travel preclude 50,000 words in November: our approach is flexible, so that once a year we try to have some concentrated writing time, nano-style, but make sure we don’t burn ourselves out completely.
‘The main thing is to be writing so much that you don’t have time to think about whether your words are good enough, and that you lose yourself in your story – that you have the joy of thinking about it night and day, dreaming it, being totally caught up in it,’ Rawson added.
While the month or target may not be the same, the key ingredient is community; tapping into our human desire to #humblebrag, be accountable to others, and commiserate when things don’t go as planned. It’s what turns writing, typically a solo-endeavour, into a team sport.
Rawson has had success with NaNoWriMo in the past. ‘The first time I did NaNoWriMo was in 2000. The result was the first draft of Formaldehyde, which was eventually published as part of the Viva la Novella prize run by Seizure, in 2015,’ she said.
Her two novels, A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists (2013) and From the Wreck (2017) were ‘partially’ drafted during NaNoWriMo, with Rawson later refining both books over a few years to become what we read today. The important lesson here is that refinement is critical. Writing a first draft in a month is the initial step in a process that can take years to complete. But NaNoWriMo can place you in a good position to get started.
‘The first time I tried NaNoWriMo I realised how freeing it was to be able to write without overthinking every word of a draft.’
– writer Alison Evans
Many participants put their lives temporarily on hold in order to complete NaNoWriMo. ‘Anything that isn’t absolutely necessary is cancelled for the month (social engagements etc) and my husband usually kindly takes on an extra burden of cooking, house maintenance and so on,’ said Rawson.
Her advice is to find ‘whatever works for you.’
‘For me, it’s best to make sure I don’t skip days and keep on top of the word count rather than letting it pile up, but some of my friends prefer to have normal life some days then pull all-nighters to catch up on words,’ she said.
Like Evans, Rawson also suggests nominating your own target if you find 50,000 words overwhelming.
‘This is sacrilegious, I know, but if you feel like 50,000 words is too much and it’s going to destroy you, set yourself a different goal. The aim, really, is to get you over that hump of judging every word that you write, of being too self-critical, of putting off writing because everything isn’t perfect yet. 50k is arbitrary, so if you need less (or more!) just do that,’ she said.
Learn more about NaNoWriMo.
