Why You Need to Quit Nanowrimo
(Look at me with the clickbait title!)
Okay, I don’t mean YOU need to quit Nanowrimo.
I mean, you, over there. Yeah. You need to quit.
You who have tried everything and don’t understand why writing a whole book in a month isn’t working for you when OBVIOUSLY it works for kajillions of other people in November every damn year.
[Side note: Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month and also an organization that promotes this event. Nanowrimo encourages participants to write 50,000 words during November.]
For myself, I have “won” Nanowrimo (it’s called winning when you complete 50,000 words in one month.) That was the year that I graciously accepted all the prizes (yes, there are prizes), one of which was a nice discount on Scrivener , the writing software that I still use for all my first drafts to this day.
I’ve also attempted Nanowrimo and “lost.” (They don’t call it losing, but it’s the opposite of winning so…) But of course I’ve never considered it a loss. ANY words on the page are great. Any stab at a book means, well, that the book is closer to… dying? (What kind of metaphor is ‘taking a stab at,’ anyway?)
I’ve also encouraged and recommended Nanowrimo to almost anyone who has come to me, seriously, and said they want to write a book. (If I haven’t recommended it to you, it’s because I didn’t take you seriously, Mr. Dude at the Sports Bar who had a Great Idea for a KGB Spy Book but like, Harry Potter Style That Will Be Bigger Than 50 Shades of Gray.)
Why do I recommend Nanowrimo to new / aspiring authors? Because you don’t know if you can write a book until you actually try to write a book. It’s as simple as that. Writing books is a lot more than having ideas and picturing them in your head. Writing a book entails WRITING FIFTY to ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS (approximately) in a (mostly) legible way and making sure it tells a complete story. That’s… a lot. I’m not going to make it sound like it’s not.
So, you know, if you’re reading this and have always wanted to write, go sign up at Nanowrimo.org and see what they have to offer.
But you said I had to quit Nanowrimo, Lindsay.
I did.
Because I think you should try. And then quit if it’s not working for you.
Why? I hear you saying, “I want to be a writer. I have this amazing idea for a Harry Potter style KGB spy novel that I must gift to the world as my legacy!”
Awesome. The world needs that book, ASAP. (The more times I type this, I might steal this idea, honestly.)
But Nanowrimo doesn’t work for everyone. It’s worked for me, and then it hasn’t. And look, I have five books published with traditional publishers and two self-published books. I have a great agent and a very popular podcast and fans around the world.
And I still know that I’m not going to be able to write fifty thousand words this month.
How do I know that? How do I know that this fantastic program that’s helped so many aspiring writers is most definitely not going to help me this month?
Well, here’s the second piece of advice I started giving new writers about eighteen months ago.
…There’s a class you need to take.
It’s called Write Better Faster. The instructor is Becca Syme.
And she’s helped me sooooo much. I wish I’d taken this class when I was just starting off. Through her insights and the application of a variety of personality/ strength/ self-knowledge instruments, you’ll start figuring out whether something like Nanowrimo will work for you.
Plotting, pantsing, worksheets, writing alone, writing in groups, sprints, critique groups, accountability, deadlines, BICHOK, “treating writing like a job,” “getting in the flow…” You hear about all these things when you start dipping your toes into the writing community and at first, most of us are tempted to TRY EVERYTHING. And then we’re frustrated when we’re struggling to complete a novel and the people we started off with have self-published a ten-book high fantasy series.
Becca’s classes (and I’ve taken three of them and been coached by her) have helped me learn my strengths, my personality and the type of environments I work best in. All of these lead to greater productivity and greater, well, wellness, truth be told.
I don’t stress out as much as I used to when the words don’t “flow.” I don’t feel the need to jump on every bandwagon, sign up for every writing course, buy every “how to do novels” book. I know what works for me, and if I don’t, I have the tools to figure it out.
Nanowrimo probably worked for me that first time because I’m a highly competitive person, because I had a small, tightknit group of people who were doing it with me, because I had a steady, predictable schedule at the time and because I’d thoroughly thought out my story ahead of time.
Nanowrimo hasn’t worked for me since because I either jump in without a fully intellected story (that’s a word in Becca-land) or because it hasn’t been necessary for my publishing strategy. (I know now that my strategic strengths are very strong – and I should always listen to them).
But that’s me. And what I (now) know about myself. ^^^ All those reasons may not apply to you.
So yes, by all means, try Nanowrimo. PLEASE. Again, you never know until you try. Keep sludging through, keep at it!! It’s a thrill to win!
Or… sign up for Becca’s Write Better Faster course. And save yourself some essential pain if Nano seems… harder than it should be? There’s probably a new class starting soon (PERFECT for those I’m going to write a book resolutions.)
She also has a new course called Live Better Faster for those who want to know themselves better to succeed at other life/ career endeavors, not necessarily writing.
And if you end up taking Write Better Faster, I can’t wait to see you in the Facebook groups or hit me up on social media and let me know ALL the THINGS that you’ve learned and what you’ve learned to Quit.
More Nano/ writing advice:
Alexis Anne’s Five Tips for Writing Nanowrimo
Women With Books Podcast: Chapter 4 with Alexis Daria
Becca’s books if you want to learn more about her philosophy (Yes, I stole her clickbait convention.)
Dear Writer, You Need to Quit
Dear Writer, Are You in Burnout?
Dear Writer, You’re Doing it Wrong
And you can listen/ watch Becca on her Youtube Podcast, The Quit Cast
Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means I could receive a few coins for posting them. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement!