Winning Nano, Part One: Do's
On October 31, 2011 at 5:30 p.m., I made a life-changing decision.
And speaking of smiles…
I decided to do Nano.
For the uninitiated, Nano refers to “National Novel Writing
Month,” a contest in which writers are challenged to write a minimum 50,000-word
novel in 30 days, from midnight November 1st to 11:59 p.m. November
30th.
I had nothing beyond a thin semblance of a
story outline and no clue where I would get 50,000 words in 30 days. But I had
the will to begin and a brand new laptop, and that seemed like enough. And so
armed, I compiled 50,461 words in just 27 days.
“Mini-wave in
celebration of me. A-whoo-hoo!”
Two years later, I am poised and excited to do it again.
This time, I feel prepared. Not just because I gave myself more than
six-and-a-half hours to prepare, but because my first experience taught me a thing
or two about what to do and what not to do for a successful Nano.
Let’s start with the Do’s.
1.
DO tell your housemates what you’re doing.
Based
on your living situation, this might be anything from unnecessary to a major
risk, but I told my husband about my commitment to Nano the night before I began.
I wanted him to cheer me on, sure. But I really wanted him to understand how
this decision would affect the household. Once we settled a few minor issues,
he was all the way on board and encouraged me every day.
Speaking
of which…
When
polishing our work, we use these grammatical spices sparingly. But for the sake
of the word count, look upon the descriptive duo with a friendly eye. I started
every Nano writing session by reviewing yesterday’s work and adding them wherever
possible. Not only did that give me confidence as I began a new writing day,
but watching that word count inch higher and higher boosted my confidence that I
would hit the 50,000 mark.
And
on that note…
3.
DO create a document in which you track your
word count.
This
is a simple way to foster personal accountability and encourage diligence. When
you review that first week and see how your word count has increased, you’ll
be more determined to write the next week and the next and the
next until your goal is reached. I still have that document—a list of writing
dates and the number of words—and it makes me smile every time I read it.
And speaking of smiles…
4.
DO enjoy the ride.
Nano
is stressful by definition, a month-long game of “Beat the Clock.” And its
importance increases if, say, your additional goal is completing a working draft
of the fragmented-but-has-good-bones NanoNovel you started two years ago. But Nano
can be enjoyable if you let it be, a jolly good time if you want it to be. Whether you reach
your goals or not, every day you rise to the Nano challenge is a good day. So
put the top down, crank up the music, and enjoy the ride.
And
to help with that…
5.
DO pad your downtime with shameless frivolity.
Conjuring
up 50,000 new words in 30 days is exhausting, so fill your non-writing time
with restorative fun. Reading Twilight
fanfiction—and repeated showings of Breaking
Dawn-Part 1—kept me fueled and happy in 2011 and inspired me to start
writing fanfiction the following month. I don’t know what will move me this
year, but I plan to have plenty of it all month long.
So those are my hard-earned Nano Do’s. Do you have any
helpful hints to share?
I’ll be back next Sunday with my Don’ts.
See you then!
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