I'm doing it again! Dragging myself into the deep water of words, plots, adventure, sleep deprivation, craving for snacks, and hopefully at the end of it, a completed memoir!
This is my third year participating in NaNo(National Novel Writing Month). Each year brings new surprises, a new adventure, and I meet other incredible writers. Have you ever wanted to write a novel? I have found NaNo is the best way to keep motivated. The challenge is to write a 50,000-word novel within the month of November. That means writing roughly 1666 words a day.
The great part about NaNo is that it really encourages you to just get the words on the page. Don't worry about the plot, or how the story sounds. The first part of writing any novel is getting the words down. I can not describe to you how good it feels to complete the novel at the end of the month! Those are your words, your story, and you did it within one month!
Even if you don't complete the challenge, you still have words on the page that were not there before!
I believe everyone has a story to tell but many don't know where to start. NaNo is a great way to get started. It is not about perfection, it's only about completing that first initial step in the process of penning a novel. I encourage anyone who has ever wanted to try writing a novel to join me this year in the 2019 NaNo challenge. We all have busy lives, and not a lot of time, but I have successfully completed this challenge while in school, training jiu-jitsu five days a week, and working at the same time. Here are some of my Nano tips for success.
#1: Outline your Novel Beforehand: I like to draft my project before Nano begins. This helps me avoid writer's block because there really isn't time for that when you have only a month to write a novel. It doesn't have to be a super-detailed outline, just enough so you have an idea of what you are writing next. Here is an example,
-I sit in the back of my uncle’s motorcycle and remember the
nights riding with Fred on the boda boda. I monologue why I broke up with Fred,
how lost I felt from the experience. How it felt like a failure, but how I am
made it a win.
#2: Set Aside an Hour or Two Half Hours to Write Each Day: This helps you keep organized, and makes writing a priority in your day. It can be different times each day, as long as you set aside some time. For Example on Fridays, I work 7am-2pm, then train BJJ from 7pm-8:30pm at night. I will set 3-5pm as my writing time. On Saturday I work 8-11am, buy groceries, ride a horse, then work 3-6pm. I then visit my Uncle and Aunt in the evening. I will take my extra hour on Friday to cover what I need to write on Saturday, and maybe only write for half an hour on Saturday instead.
#3: Reward Yourself: It's so important. Is it a treat, a movie, a walk outside, alcohol?! Whatever you can use as incentive for you to complete your word count every day is a great way to keep motivated and get those words on the page.
#4: Use the Website and Meet with other Writers: The NaNoWriMo website is a great tool for success in the NaNo challenge. Take a look at this link https://www.nanowrimo.org. The website also helps you connect to other writers in your area. Often there will be weekly meetups at a coffee shop or somewhere else near you. Other writers can be great encouragement and inspiration for you to continue on with your project.
#5: Create a Playlist: A playlist of music related to your story can be a great inspiration, and fun to create. Also, a Pinterest page with images for inspiration is a fun activity too. These two activities can get you super excited about your project and be a great source of inspiration. For example, my memoir takes place in Africa so my playlist is made up of songs from African choirs, the Lion King, and the soundtrack from Tears of the Sun, and Blood Diamond.
Those are my five tips for success and what get me through the month. I am positive you can come up with other great tricks to keep yourself going too! It's a long month, usually void of television, youtube,etc, but the experience is worth it! Some of the benefits include...
- Better time management skills
- Treating yourself every day
- Self Discovery
- New Friends
- A Novel!
So, who will join me this year?!!! If you are interested in joining this challenge send me a message and I am happy to help you all the way to a completed novel. I am super stoked for NaNo 2019, and I hope some of you will join me on this crazy adventure!
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