NaNoWriMo Gave My Writing Meaning
I first participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2010. A whole decade ago.
Actually, NaNoWriMo 2010 may be the first time I really took myself seriously as a novelist. I wasn’t great at writing back then. I still needed a lot more years of practice before I ever published.
I do know one thing, though: participating in the challenge changed the way I felt about writing.
National Novel Writing Month is wildly popular.
NaNoWriMo, even a decade ago, had a massive following. The community was full of hopeful, wannabe writers like myself who really believed they could write a full 50,000 word novel in a month’s time.
NaNoWriMo always takes place in November (except for Camp NaNoWriMo, which takes place during two summer months) and it’s a wild, exciting time.
Even October is busy — that’s when writers hunker down and work out the details of what exactly they’re going to write.
Plots are determined. Outlines are written. Character sheets are filled. Settings are researched. Lots of things are made up.
The official forums are active and wild. Twitter goes nuts with folks looking to connect so they can keep each other on track during November, the month when everyone really writes their 50,000 words.
It’s a high energy event that I was happy to have found.
As a writer, I wasn’t alone anymore.
I had long been a writer, though far from a professional one. I wasn’t writing everyday when I first found NaNoWriMo. I’m not sure I was even writing every week.
I knew I loved to write, but I also knew it was a lonely task. And as a young twenty-something, I wasn’t usually home on weekends or Saturday nights. I was out with friends when I wasn’t studying or working. I wanted to write, but I wanted to be social, too.
I found that with NaNoWriMo, I could do both — write and be social. And I could chat with other writers, which was priceless.
Of course I would still write the words all by myself, but I could take breaks to check in on what was going on in the forums or on social media. I participated in word sprints (timed challenges where you write as much as you can in a short time span — 30 minutes, for example — and report back after on how much you wrote) with other writers from around the globe.
The community surrounding National Novel Writing Month is rabid. It’s wild and fun. Thousands of writers come together to write a novel all at the same time, and it’s an absolute joy to be a part of the action.
Joining NaNoWriMo as a participant immediately made me part of a community, and to that I’m eternally grateful.
It also made me feel more legitimate, like I was a real writer, even back during my first year when I’d never previously finished a novel.
Lots of popular novels have been written during NaNoWriMo.
Two of the most popular novels written during National Novel Writing Month are The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Heard of Hugh Howey’s wildly popular book Wool? That one’s also a NaNoWriMo novel.
Other popular novels written during NaNoWriMo are: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer.
And lots of authors offer advice and pep talks for writers who are participating in the challenge. Their website has years of pep talks saved — read through them when you need inspiration.
My first novel wasn’t even any good.
My 2010 NaNoWriMo novel attempt was an epic fantasy novel that, at the time, I wasn’t skilled enough to write. But, of course, I didn’t know that until I tried to write it. And then came the struggles. The learning.
I learned that I hadn’t done enough planning, or enough plotting. My outline didn’t have enough detail for my writing style. (But at the time, I didn’t even know my writing style. Participating in NaNoWriMo was a catalyst to teach me who I was as a writer.) My characters weren’t motivated enough to make it through the story.
I had made it so my characters had things at stake — there were definitely things my main character could lose if she messed up along the way, but there still wasn’t enough of a challenge. I had gone too easy on my characters, a classic amateur writer mistake.
Still, I stuck with it. I wrote words for my novel all thirty days of November, and come December 1, I had a beautiful hot mess of a first draft.
I found that I wasn’t alone in this. Other participants of NaNoWriMo weren’t shy about admitting things had gone wrong with their drafts. It made me feel, again, like a legitimate writer.
I was learning, and learning by doing. That was important.
You can read every single writing craft book and article out there, but until you do it yourself, you won’t learn much. Reading about how to do it is one thing. Actually putting in the work is another thing entirely.
I learned a lot about myself as a writer.
My first NaNoWriMo was a success by the standards of the challenge — I had written 50,000 words in a month’s time. But, by any other standards, it wasn’t so good. My novel wasn’t going to be published.
But it didn’t matter. I learned a lot about the writing community. I learned that there were so many other hopeful writers who wanted to write a novel, and that inspired me. I am frequently inspired by other creatives, and the fact that there are so many people with a common creative goal.
I found writer buddies. I proved to myself that not only could I write 50,000 words in a month but that I was dedicated enough to my craft to write every single day. I learned that I was more serious about novel writing than I had ever realized — and I’ve continued over the last decade to hone my skills and stick with writing.
Over the last decade, I’ve participated in several NaNoWriMo events, both the ones in November and Camp events held in summer. Every time I do, that rabid community is there, raring to go. The community is supportive and helpful. There’s a lot there for writers of any and every skill level, and I can’t wait to be a part of it again.
Thinking of participating?
This is a great time to get started! At the time of publishing this article, we’re about a week out from October — the big planning month for participants. Head to the National Novel Writing Month website, sign up, and announce your writing project for November. It really is a joy to participate. I’ll be joining again this year!
Thanks for reading,
xx Katie
