Current Events > I'm thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year

(+) Yeah! (+)

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a yearly event where attendees are encouraged to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days - the entire month of November. It's an official event put on by a non-profit organisation called The Office of Letters and Light, and they also did an event called Script Frenzy until poor turnout and a lack of donations led to them discontinuing the program.

I've been aware of it for over a decade; I used to use TV Tropes daily and NaNoWriMo would be all over the forums and all that sort of thing. Always saw it as a little cringy, probably because I was on fucking TV Tropes, but I was thinking about it earlier in the year and I'm wondering if I could pull something like that off.

The longest thing I've ever written in about that timespan was a Doctor Who fanfiction back in 2018. I wrote 17,000 words in about three weeks. If I decide to do this, I'm thinking of plotting out a rough outline and maybe some goals.

Right now, I've got two ideas. I've been trying to write this fanfic called Let's Bash Queerphobes, though I've lost the voices after finishing the game it's a fanfic of, and just today I thought the phrase "Karen wants queens" due to my job and thought it sounded like an okay book title.

It doesn't have to be fully formatted and ready to publish by the end of the exercise, you just need a raw 50,000 wordcount. From there, you can trim it down and turn it into something readable. Would you ever try something like this?

I've tried in the past but always lost enthusiasm halfway through.

I wouldn't even really know where to publish it when I was done.

I've probably failed a half dozen times. A typical month will have me beating pace for the first 3 days, falling behind for 3, then finally missing a day altogether and giving up after a week.

Do it.

Don't even think of editing until you've finished, and don't worry about publishing.

Two of the biggest barriers to actually getting this shit done are: editing as you go and not putting anything down until it's 'perfect'; and worrying about what happens next.

Do it for you, and no other reason. If you complete a 50,000 word novel, the sense of achievement will be massive, and you will have learned so much.

been doing it for a long time, on and off. finished a few times. a couple years ago i finished and wrote the best thing i've ever written in my life. i skipped last year because my mind was just in another place, but i've been feeling that writing itch again lately. been thinking about writing a sequel or spinoff or something. think i might do it.