December is here, marking the end of my first ever NaNoWriMo experience!
Proud to say that I’m one of the few who didn’t hit the 50k word count. But throughout November, I still made some major writing accomplishments—milestones I probably wouldn’t have hit without NaNo. I added 21k words to my novel (which is more than what I typically write in a month), started and edited two short stories, and placed one of the aforementioned stories on submission! (Note: Short stories I’m extra gushy about because plot ideas are a dime a dozen for me 🥲.)
November has actually helped me learn a lot more about myself as a writer. So in the spirit of my first NaNoWriMo experience, I thought it would make sense for me to give a little reflection on what I learned from the event and how I will approach my next NaNo.
Here goes:
1.) Personalize your NaNoWriMo
Definitely my number one takeaway from NaNo and it will be something I do in the future. Burnout is a real thing and I can imagine it’s even worse for those who work/have classes and cannot write full-time. Sometimes we can’t dedicate a day (or even a whole week) to reaching our word count goal, and it’s not productive beating yourself up for it. The best thing we can do is adjust our goal for a better work/writing balance.
Writing 50k words within a month is a major accomplishment but it doesn’t have to be your accomplishment. Next time, I’d personalize my NaNo. Maybe instead of having 50k words, I might settle for 30k or 20k. Or maybe I’d just see how many words I can write within the month—whether it’s for a novel, short stories, etc. So I guess that’d make it a MyGoWriMo? (My Goal Writing Month).
Anywho, I find that the best strategy would be to approach NaNo in a way that makes it both fulfilling and enjoyable for yourself.
And this brings me to my second takeaway:
2.) It’s a marathon, not a race
This isn’t just the golden rule for NaNoWriMo, but for life as well.
The deadline isn’t there for you to rush to it before anyone else. And hitting the finish line first doesn’t mean you’re improving as a writer. Fast writing doesn’t equate good writing. Writing itself is already complex. Writing an entire novel requires writers to add on a whole gamut of other skills to the already complex craft. This fact isn’t secluded to unpublished writers, but to seasoned ones too. Famous authors still find themselves learning and developing their craft. Everyone is at a different level of experience still trying to peel back the infinite layers ahead. All it takes is time and effort.
But the problem is that with social media it’s becoming easier and easier to be informed of everyone else’s level in writing—how further ahead they are from you, in particular. It could be Day 2 of NaNo and we see that one of our mutuals have already hit 10k words. We’re happy for them but we also begin to doubt our own writing process because we can’t write 10,000 words within two days.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Theodore Roosevelt (and also many other people)
Comparison is the bane of happiness. And it’s leading the cause for Imposter Syndrome. It inspired my first poem published in my campus’ newspaper. Comparison is also the reason why I’m not fond of social media and have limited my usage since getting into writing. And, in truth, I feel happier overall.
So naturally, when it came to NaNo I kept off of social media and refrained from reading other people’s progress on forums. It can be isolating at times, and—for those who are socially inclined—it’s tempting to join discussions. But so long as you are enjoying the progress and not making it a competition that would destroy your writing experience, then everything should be A-OK.
3.) Editing is fine… kind of.
So starting NaNo, I told myself that I aimed to shut down my inner editor. And I did that! (kindanotreally.)
First drafts are supposed to be messy. This is the golden rule of writing. But I always find myself questioning, just how messy should the first draft of a novel be? Shouldn’t it at least have a beginning, middle, and end? And then during revisions, we can sort out the subplots, emphasize characterization, insert some world-building, etc?
Something I gathered about my writing process during NaNo is that I want my first drafts to be at least understandable—not pristine, but at the same time not all over the place to the extent that I have lost the overall plot and I don’t where I’m going. I couldn’t find myself just writing anything that came to mind for the sake of meeting the daily word count, so there were days I fell short. But I made sure whatever words I put down weren’t something that would throw me off the next day I open my document. If there were moments in the story I wanted to overhaul or insert, I left comments. This is where I let my inner editor have some reign over my drafting process.
So far, this method has been keeping me from hating the chapters I wrote during November. Now, my writing process might be on the slower end of the spectrum but it’s working for me thus far.
I think it’s best to say that, with writing, everyone has their own way of going about it. Find a process that keeps you eager to work on your project. It’ll make the experience worth it.
4.) Regardless, be proud of what you accomplished!
So, it’s December 1st and you only wrote one chapter throughout NaNo. That’s fine! It’s one chapter more than what you started with. And that in itself is an accomplishment. Your accomplishment.
Not having 50k words done by November 30th doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.1 It doesn’t mean you won’t be an adequate writer and doesn’t mean you won’t ever get published. So long as you keep writing, you’re still in the game. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to develop a writing habit—give us a pseudo-deadline that would make us write more not better.
21,000 is barely half of the NaNoWriMo goal, but it’s more than half of what I used to write in a typical month. I used to strive for a minimum of 10k. But now I feel more confident in increasing my monthly word count goal. The awesome thing is that I don’t have to wait until next November to do just that.
1. Goes without saying that is this does rule probably won’t apply to those bound by a publishing contract.
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