Countdown to NaNoWriMo: What’s Holding You Back?
It’s the end of September. You’ve got about a month until NaNoWriMo starts. Seems like plenty of time, right? Some of you are wondering why I’m already talking about NaNo when it doesn’t even start until November 1.
Because writing and finishing a book takes more than just the 30 days you’re planning to spend working on it during November. If this is your first time considering doing NaNoWriMo, or you’ve tried before and didn’t quite make your 50k, stay tuned because I’ll be sharing with you my tips, advice and some tricks to help you be ready to start writing on November 1, and to get 50k (or a finished story) by November 30.
Take the quick poll below so I can see what your biggest concerns are about participating. I’ll be addressing as many of these as I can before and during November, to help you hit 50k.
What makes me an expert, you may be asking. And that’s a great question. I’ve been doing NaNo for about ten years now, and have hit the 50k goal every year. Most years I’ve finished an even longer novel by November 30. And these novels have been contracted and released by a publisher—not self-published. (Bound for Trouble was my 2013 NaNo project.)
I’ve collected the worksheets and techniques I use for developing a novel into an easy-to-use novel planning kit, How to Be a NaNoWriMo Winner.
Giveaway: Leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of my book How to Be a NaNoWriMo Winner
2 Responses to “Countdown to NaNoWriMo: What’s Holding You Back?”
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I don’t even know what I’m writing. Any or all of those could apply. Or none of them. Arthritis flares, mothers with brain surgery, and work schedules tend to be my biggest problems in the last few years.
Looking forward to your tips. This is my 6th or 7th NaNo depending on whether you count the April camp NaNo event.
I have “won” all years except one, where that year I went rebel to finish off various incomplete projects instead of starting something new. Got 50k written but not on the same project.
This year is probably going to be my hardest yet. Too many edits on the horizon as well as the evil day job are going to make my writing time very sparse. I am actually seriously considering doing a reduced size story instead (aiming for 25k) and saving my next big project (an 80k novel) for Camp NaNo in April.