Pfft, Who Cares About the Numbers (Or Why the NaNoWriMo Numbers Don't Always Matter)

With one day left in NaNoWriMo, I’ll admit that I made it barely over 15k words this year (well below my normal). Yes, it sucks and I could throw you all the excuses and let you juggle them. Between school responsibilities, craft shows, and family matters not one of you would blame me. That does not matter. I can even say that finishing doesn’t always matter. Though some women may beg to differ.

Here are five reasons why:

Habit Forming.
 If you learn nothing from NaNoWriMo, but one thing, this is the one thing you should learn: Writing must become habitual to become not only better, but hopefully even professional. The 50k in a month sets one goal for the month and then daily goals of approximately 1667 words per day. This is the perfect tool to make writing habitual since studies show that it takes 30 days to create a habit. If you’re serious about writing, obviously you need to write every day to help improve it and NaNoWriMo helps you form that habit.

Creating Contacts.
As writers, we may not be alone, but we definitely feel it some days. During November we get the chance to join weekly writing groups (which sometimes expand to year round), make friends over the message board, and find people we trust to either write with or proof read our work. Sometimes these friends even end up with jobs or their own contacts that could further our writing goals. These contacts could not only help end our writing solitude, but help expand our professional ties as well.

The Deals.
Sure, some deals are only for the 50k winners, but some deals are for every one. You can discounts on software, self publishing, and even some chances for professional publishing that only participants can get. Admittedly, 25-50% self publishing and software  is really worth the work of NaNoWriMo.

The Challenge.
Sometimes we just need a challenge, but creating our own challenges are not always easy. Especially if we are alone in this challenge. With the NaNoWriMo challenge, we work with thousands of others which gives us more drive to meet the challenge. We know that other people are suffering and working and pushing forward like we are. This camaraderie is hard to find and once a year (or twice if you do Script Frenzy), we get to have it and rejoice in it.

The Resources.
The whole month of NaNoWriMo, we find writing prompts, a twitter feed full of writing sprints and mini-challenges, and famous authors giving us pep talks. These don’t go away suddenly after November ends. They don’t just delete the twitter account or remove all bits of pep talks. No, instead the twitter remains available to go on and re-use the mini-challenges that we missed during the month (since the twitter runs 24/7). And best of all, the pep talks get put into an archive that we have access to all year round.

Let’s face it, there’s plenty of different reasons that NaNoWriMo is good for us writers. You own reason might be something silly or even something much more serious, but in the long run, any reason is a good one to help better yourself and your writing.

NaNoWriMo 2011: The Beginning

That is right folks, National Novel Writing Month is finally upon us. Today the marvelous challenge of writing 50,000 works that actually mean something to each other starts!

I have done what I can to prepare:

-Months ago, I set aside a story idea that I really want to do. Since I’ve been itching to work on it, it should in theory help me to keep motivated.
-Wrote an outline to keep me on track and promptly lost it… I should probably remake it.
-Wrote out a synopsis and posted it to my NaNoWriMo account.
-Wrote out character descriptions for the characters
-Connected with friends who will also be doing the challenge, so I know where to get the support from/offer support too.
-Oh, and created an NaNoWriMo account, which allows me to get emails, make donates, and connect with other participants.

So, if you are participating, let me know. We can help check each other on track. Make sure you become my Writing Buddy on NaNoWriMo.org (user name: Everyroadisanoption).

Also, don’t forget to make a donation or buy some awesome swag. NaNoWriMo even lets you know where your donations are going and gives you some neat extras to help inspired you while you write. Next year I will be actually using StayClassy.org to help me find writing sponsors so I can give more to these wonderful organizations!

Stay tuned for more updates this month on my progress and for tips!