My Plan for NaNoWriMo 2023
In case NaNoWriMo sounds like baby talk or something like it did to me the first time I saw it, let me explain. It stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is during November and the goal is to write 50,000 words in just 30 days. That means writing at least 1,667 words per day. For me especially, this is a daunting amount of works per day and not always possible to get on a good day.
So far, the most I have written in a month was about 23,000 words. That will mean that I will need to write over twice as much as my best month ever. For the record, my goal for that month was actually 30,000 words which I obviously didn’t hit. November can also be a busy month for some people like myself, with traveling for Thanksgiving, time with family, shopping Black Friday deals or any kind of holiday shopping.
Therefore, I have decided to do NaNoWriMo in a way that will work for me and my schedule and its definitely not the expected way to do it.
Changing the Goal
The biggest thing I will need to change is my outlook for the month. Going from writing 23,000 words in a month to 50,000 words can easily look impossible, and thinking that its impossible will make it just that. In order to remove the sense of impending doom, I decided to add a different goal of 30,000 words. This will be my main goal during NaNoWriMo. I know that for myself I will be extremely proud of myself for hitting that amount, especially since I was unable to reach it the last time.
This doesn’t mean I am throwing away the goal of reaching 50,000 words. I will keep that as, what I’m going to call, a Big Goal.
I’m doing this so that it keeps me motivated toward a goal I feel confident I can reach with an additional goal that I hope to hit at some point, but if it doesn’t happen this November, that’s okay. With the change in goals, that makes my new daily goal 1,000 to 1,667 words, which seems way more doable for me.
Setting a Routine Early
One thing that I noticed helped the last time was setting up the times when I was going to write. Finding what works early is extremely important rather than trying things that might not work while trying to reach your word count goals. These aren’t the only times I will write, but they will be the times I have set aside specifically for writing. For me to stay consistent, I started my routine mid-September in hopes that it will become habit by the time November rolls around.
Here are the time I set up specifically for writing:
The first one is weekday evenings after work. I get home, make dinner, and sit down at my computer. This is a time that I have found works for myself. However, there are always times that the motivation doesn’t come. Usually, I keep my butt in my chair and work on my manuscript in some way for a minimum of 30 minutes. If I can’t write after 30 minutes, I step away and do something else. At some point in the night, I go back to my computer for another 30 minutes. I have found this to be the most effective way for me to write after work. Usually by the second 30 minutes, I am able to get out a few hundred words or more. Right now, I just have this routine set in place for Wednesdays, but I will slowly start adding more days throughout the time before NaNoWriMo starts.
Saturdays I have found are better between 1pm and 3pm. This is after a slower morning getting in my exercise for the day, cleaning up my space from the week and refreshing myself for the next week of writing. During this time, if I am had a hard time writing through the past week, I will work on planning my next couple scenes. Since I am more of a panster, its hard for me to plan too far ahead and can actually bring my writing to a halt.
Sunday mornings have been my long standing time that I have for writing. I usually start writing first thing in the morning, get everything set up and remind myself where I am in the story, make breakfast, and then I will sit down to write. Usually I work on my manuscript for 3 hours from 9 to 12. This can produce anywhere from 500 words to 2500 words for a good day.
For these to work, the key is to be consistent and make these dates and times work for you, and to know that if someone asks you if your busy during these times, the answer is yes. (Now, there are always exemptions for this, but generally, you should tell people you are busy.) You have made a commitment to yourself, so stick with it!
Changing Daily Word Count Goals
Another things that helped me when I did this last time was to adjust my daily word count goals to account for my schedule. Its not always the easiest to work on my manuscript during the weekdays due to my 9-5 job. If I still reach 1,667 words on one of those days, that’s great, but not always manageable for me. Therefore, I adjust my daily goal through the week and make up for it on the weekends, knowing that I have so much more time to write.
Here is my word count for this:
Weekdays: 800 - 1550
Weekends: 1550 - 2000
This can me managed anyway, and I’m sure this amount will change based on how much I actually am able to write during the days. I also usually review my word count process around November 15th to 20th. That way I can adjust the amount of words I need each day and update it to reach my monthly goal. This amount could decrease or increase based on how far I got. If it increases to much to reach for the 50,000-word big goal, then I might just focus on meeting my goal of 30,000.
Understand that NaNoWriMo isn’t easy
The most important thing about NaNoWriMo is understanding that it isn’t easy. Only 10% - 15% complete the 50,000 words. Overall, I am excited for the challenge that November will present for my writing ability, and I know that no matter my word count, I will be that much closer to finishing my manuscript.
