November is when many strive to write a novel within a month, and we spoke to Demetria, Kate and Kellie who are attempting this challenge to see how it’s going.
Q. 1: Why did you decide to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year?
Demetria: I won NaNoWriMo when I was 17 and I always wanted to do it again, but I never seemed to get around to it. However, this year, I found myself with a great deal of spare time. It seemed like the perfect time to pick the pen back up. It also happens to be 10 years exactly since I first finished a novel! It feels fitting to write another one now.
Kate: I first heard about NaNo when I was at University and thought it would be fun to join in with. But life always got in the way; I spent my 20s focusing on my career, I never had an idea that I thought would work as a book, I didn’t feel like I was talented enough to ‘waste’ time writing and most importantly – I didn’t think I would ‘win’. The thought of writing 50k words in a month seemed impossible and I always felt like it was pointless to enter if I wasn’t going to complete the task successfully. But this year I have been pushing myself to do things and not worry so much about if I’ll succeed. I actually started NaNo certain that I would not hit my 50k words in November – but knowing that I would write more words doing Nano than I would if I didn’t. The best case scenario was I wrote 50k+ words and had a first draft of a novel…what was the worst case? That I would have half a first draft? That still sounded pretty good to me.
Kellie: I’ve always loved writing growing up, but with school and work obligations, it always fell to the wayside. Now that I’ve recently graduated and am transitioning to a different point in life, I have more free time to finally get back into writing! NaNoWriMo seemed like the perfect way to do that.
Q. 2: What writing goals have you set yourself?
Demetria: My goal is to write 50,000 words in November. Hopefully, I can finish my story in that amount of words, but I will continue writing if it needs more words.
Kate: I have been realistic with myself on goals; there is a lot of life going on, I have a daughter and other responsibilities, so I didn’t want Nano to feel like a chore. I wanted to try to push myself out of my comfort zone and maybe learn a bit more about my writing process. My first goal was to write every day – and sometimes that has been 20 words, but I still have written every day. I also want to get to the end of the story – have a full first draft, even if it’s short on the word count. These both feel manageable to me.
Kellie: To write every day! My hope is to get further into my writing project and to set more of a writing routine as I get back into the groove of writing.
Q. 3: Is this challenge proving productive for your writing project?
Demetria: Definitely! Seeing the little bar chart on the NaNo website fill in every day is a huge motivator. It also serves as a reminder that if I write less than 1,667 words on one day, then it means I’ll have to write more than 1,667 words on the next day!
Kate: Yes – I have found that I am able to write even when I’m not feeling ‘inspired’ and actually the act of writing is inspiring in itself. If I push myself to write something, it normally snowballs and I end up writing more than I had planned / thought I would. I have also found that in writing my story; it has given rise to themes that I will explore in a second draft, helped to flesh out characterisation and plot lines. I feel confident that I will have a full story to work with on a second draft – and I will also have ideas of what I will want to build on when I redraft and how to thread these themes throughout the novel.
Kellie: Yes! It’s definitely fun to see the word count increase every day. But even more than that, I love that I’m starting to get the hang of writing again.
Q. 4: What are your top tips for other writers doing this challenge?
Demetria:
1. Plan and outline the rough plot of your story before you start. It makes writing so much easier and makes the plot make much more sense than if everything was being written on the fly. At least, this is in my experience.
2. “Don’t get it right, get it written.” Basically – don’t get caught up trying to write the most amazingly well-written novel ever. The challenge is the time-crunch! You’ve got the other eleven months out of the year to edit.
Kate:
PREP – I have always been a pantser but for NANO I wrote a detailed plan, I found it hard to start writing, the opening paragraph was a real struggle. But as soon as I had written that I knew where the story was going and that helped me keep the words flowing.
INSPO – I built a playlist, I did research and I created a moodboard for my project to help me get inspired and in to the right headspace when I need to write. I have found this useful, when I have to do cleaning or school runs I can listen to my playlist and prepare for when I get home and write. I have found the moodboard helpful when I’m trying to imagine my world. My research has given me ideas of details within the plot.
WRITE – Enjoy the challenge but maybe don’t see it as a Win or Lose situation – maybe just enjoy writing, enjoy spending a month where you prioritise it over your other usual distractions and just see where you end up. Don’t over think or over analyse your daily wordcount – if you’re moving forward, that’s a success.
DONT EDIT – don’t go back and read what you’ve written, you can edit when it’s finished. Just push your story forward and maybe make notes if you realise you’ve got a gaping plot hole (I’ve got a few).
Kellie: I think it would be to not compare your progress to other people’s progress. It’s so easy to get into a number’s game with yourself. But I think the most important part is to enjoy writing and to enjoy writing your own project. Whether you write 500 words or 5,000 words every day, any progress is great progress!
Q. 5: How do you balance writing with your everyday life?
Demetria: Quite easily. Admittedly, I’m cheating. I recently moved to a new town in which I have no friends, so I don’t have a social life to distract me. In the past though, I would try and set aside certain times of the day to write. Making a routine with these kinds of things helps me the most.
Kate: I like to write first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. Ideally I would write between 8-12 every morning. But I have a two year old so that isn’t an option. I am also a freelancer so I am working / looking for work on the days when I have childcare. When I can write first thing in the morning I do – but on days where that’s not possible, I have some quick dinners pencilled in so I can sit down by 8pm and get some words down. It has helped that my husband is also doing NaNo for the first time this year, so we can sit together and write in the evenings.
Kellie: I often set up at least 1-2 hours to focus on writing. I find that concentrated writing sprints are helpful rather than just leaving time open to write whenever I can. It’s something that works for me!
Q. 6: Would you recommend doing this to other writers?
Demetria: I would absolutely recommend doing it if you can! My first ever completed novel at the age of 17 was the most incredible confidence boost and really set me up in thinking of myself as a writer. I’ve since written for the stage and had my work performed to sizeable audiences. I don’t think I would ever have attempted these later projects without the solid foundation that NaNo gave me as a teenager. I’ll always be able to think of myself as a writer, and I have my completed novels to prove it. No one can take that away.
Kate: I would recommend it because if nothing else; it will teach you a lot about yourself as a writer.
Kellie: I think it’s definitely a commitment, for sure. If I was still in university or had a regular full time job, I would not be able to be committed to NaNoWriMo. However, it’s such a fun experience and very motivating to have a tangible goal to work towards. If it sounds interesting, definitely give it a go! So far, it has only helped me in my novel writing progress. The community is also fantastic for being so kind and encouraging.
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