For many, fall is a time of pumpkin spice lattes, leaves, and thanks. November in particular may bring to mind the delicious smells of turkey and mashed potatoes while also invoking that sense of warmth that family brings. For some however, November, has yet another meaning: National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo.
During this wonderful month, the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel—a number that may seem intimidating. This year, I decided to give NaNoWriMo a shot, and although I had little optimism in my chances of completing it, I hoped that it would push me through the writer’s block I had been stuck in since May. Surprisingly, it worked. I found myself pouring word after word onto the page, pressed by the fact that in order to write 50,000 words in thirty days, I would have to write close to 2000 words a day, roughly four typed pages.
In the past week, I discovered to my surprise that not only was I overcoming my writer’s block, but I was also finding that the more I wrote, the easier it became. In the past few days, I consistently surpassed my daily goals and was pouring out around 2100 words a day.
This wasn’t easy. However, I had a few methods to help me. As a member of Wattpad, I had the luxury of being in a community of writers, and we often had word wars and word sprints to help us with faster writing. In a word war, we set a window of time to write in and competed to write the most in that time period, and in a word sprint, we set a specific number of words to shoot for and competed to reach that first. These helped immensely as they added yet another pressure to stop me from succumbing to the instinct of stopping and editing—which often disrupts creative flow—and from procrastinating.
When I first embarked on this endeavor, I had no idea I could write 2000 words in a day, and now, even though there are still 22 days left in November where everything could go wrong, it’s amazing to think that I could actually “win” NaNoWriMo.
For those don’t have the time to write 50,000 words, the NaNoWriMo organization made a youth program as well where users aged up to 17 can set their own word goals. So, to those writers out there struggling with writer’s block or even to those who have no problem with writing, why not give NaNoWriMo a try?
By Amy Z.
During this wonderful month, the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel—a number that may seem intimidating. This year, I decided to give NaNoWriMo a shot, and although I had little optimism in my chances of completing it, I hoped that it would push me through the writer’s block I had been stuck in since May. Surprisingly, it worked. I found myself pouring word after word onto the page, pressed by the fact that in order to write 50,000 words in thirty days, I would have to write close to 2000 words a day, roughly four typed pages.
In the past week, I discovered to my surprise that not only was I overcoming my writer’s block, but I was also finding that the more I wrote, the easier it became. In the past few days, I consistently surpassed my daily goals and was pouring out around 2100 words a day.
This wasn’t easy. However, I had a few methods to help me. As a member of Wattpad, I had the luxury of being in a community of writers, and we often had word wars and word sprints to help us with faster writing. In a word war, we set a window of time to write in and competed to write the most in that time period, and in a word sprint, we set a specific number of words to shoot for and competed to reach that first. These helped immensely as they added yet another pressure to stop me from succumbing to the instinct of stopping and editing—which often disrupts creative flow—and from procrastinating.
When I first embarked on this endeavor, I had no idea I could write 2000 words in a day, and now, even though there are still 22 days left in November where everything could go wrong, it’s amazing to think that I could actually “win” NaNoWriMo.
For those don’t have the time to write 50,000 words, the NaNoWriMo organization made a youth program as well where users aged up to 17 can set their own word goals. So, to those writers out there struggling with writer’s block or even to those who have no problem with writing, why not give NaNoWriMo a try?
By Amy Z.