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Writing for NaNoWriMo? I Have Advice to Share from Personal Experience
November 1 kicks off National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo).
If you are a writer in need of a kick in the pants — or an aspiring writer looking for accountability to get the ball rolling — November is the month for you!
If you are not familiar with it — November is National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo). This is an annual challenge to persuade writers and would-be writers to get words down.
The goal is simple. You have the 30 days of November to write 50,000 words. Which comes out to 1,666.67 words a day.
Once upon a time, 50,000 words was a novella. Nowadays, however, 50,000 words is a short novel (yes, I know “novella” literally means short novel. Trust me — there’s still a difference when it comes to the publishing world).
It might seem like a lot of words. But truth be told, it’s not so bad.
Over the years, I have used NaNoWriMo as an impetus to get more writing done. Several times, I chose to work in a genre that was not my normal. The first such project — in 2006 — was a humorous memoir about my recovery experience following getting hit by a car crossing a street. It’s called The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Trip to the Post Office…