NaNoWriMo (and NaNonFiWriMo) Prep: Your 30-Day Writing Challenge Preparation Checklist
When approaching NaNoWriMo prep (or NaNonFiWriMo for nonfiction writers), you must create a strategy before the event to help you maintain a positive and enthusiastic mindset and productive habits no matter what life throws your way during that 30-day period.
The Writer’s Digest Podcast, Episode 8: Interview with NaNoWriMo Executive Director Grant Faulkner
In this episode of the Writer’s Digest Podcast, we talk with author and Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month Grant Faulkner, who shares an inside look at the NaNoWriMo writing challenge and discusses how to overcome some of the main obstacles to creativity, techniques to help you prepare to write...
Camp NaNoWriMo: Take Our “What Kind of Camper Are You?” Quiz
Here, the Camp NaNoWriMo team has shared a special quiz for campers (and any writer!) to determine which camper personality matches yours. Are you an adventurer, or are you more relaxed—or are you the glamping type? Find out here.
5 Habits to Help You Go from NaNoWriMo to Published Author
Here are five habits that debut author Tina Lecount Myers cultivated along the way to go from NaNoWriMo to published author.
Screenplay to Novel: 5 Steps to Novelizing a Script
Script's Editor Jeanne Veillette Bowerman shares why screenwriters should take on the NaNoWriMo challenge by adapting backwards, screenplay to novel.
Top 5 Reasons Every Writer Should Join Camp NaNoWriMo
Camp NaNoWriMo is like the summer camp version of National Novel Writing Month. Here's why you should consider spending your summer with that community.
One Way NaNoWriMo Can Lead To a Lifetime of Better Writing
For hundreds of thousands of writers worldwide, November means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Here's one way the 30-day challenge can be a serious boost.
Advice in Six Words: 17 Inspirational Six-Word Writing Tips
What advice can you offer to other writers in just six words? That's what our friends at Six Word asked on Twitter. Here are our favorite 17 pieces of advice so far. (Hard to believe each is only six words long!)
What Makes NaNoWriMo Work
When discipline and caffeine aren’t enough to fuel you to the finish line, the writing community might just carry you the rest of the way. Before you decide to run a write-a-thon alone, read this.
Your NaNoWriMo Survival Guide: Before, During & After
Writing a novel in 30 days can be quite a challenging task, physically, mentally and emotionally. Go into it prepared with this quick-and-easy guide.
A Better Approach to “Write Every Day”
Happy New Year! Happy … and yet. Everywhere you look, it’s all about pushing ourselves, isn’t it? First came November’s NaNoWriMo, with all the tips for writing more, more, more, writing faster, faster, faster. Then came the holidays, with 12 days left to shop/plan/wrap/bake/revise that manuscript from last month, 11, 10,...
NaNoWriMo Reflections
With the buzz of National Novel Writing Month over, it’s now a time for reflection and introspection. Take a step back from your work before examining it. Did you meet your goal? Did your writing meet your standards? Will it ultimately meet your standards? Will you make something of what you’ve...
Lessons Learned: Takeaways From NaNoWriMo
Whether you are successfully closing in on 50,000 words this National Novel Writing Month or decided to call it a month a little early, there’s always something you can take away from this experience and apply to your normal writing habits. For some writers, it may be that you need to...
One More Week: Staying Motivated at the End of NaNoWriMo
Let’s face it, writing is hard. Trying to focus and write a novel in a month? It sounds impossible. And exhausting. Here’s the good news, though: If you’ve stuck with your schedule during National Novel Writing Month, you’ve only got a week left. Hitting the word count at this point should...
The NaNoWriMo Progress Report: How Are You Feeling?
Just about three weeks of participating in National Novel Writing Month can leave even the best, consistently faithful writer sleep-deprived, ornery, and a little nonsensical. But if you’ve made it this far, that’s something worth celebrating. The question becomes, are you writing now just to hit your goal of 50,000 words?...
Halfway There: Finishing NaNoWriMo Strong
You’re almost there; you’re halfway through National Novel Writing Month, at least based on the calendar. Whether or not you’re halfway through your goal to 50,000 words (or whatever your goal this month is) may be another story. These next two weeks now become as or more critical than the first...
Adapt Your Writing: How NaNoWriMo Changes Your Daily Writing Routine
National Novel Writing Month isn’t just a test of your writing prowess. In many ways, it’s more of a test of your determination, will power, and ability to hold yourself accountable. Are you going to stick to your 50,000 word goal? What are your daily goals? How do you handle potentially falling...
Writer’s Block: Avoiding the Struggles of NaNoWriMo
At this point in the month of November, if you’ve stayed honest and true to your daily word count, you should be a third of the way to your 50,000 word goal. If you’re not, that’s still totally fine. There’s a lot of ways to pick up the pace on your...
5 Ways to Modify NaNoWriMo
It’s November, and that means many writers are well into their (first? second? 12th?) NaNoWriMo experience. But for many other writers, crafting a 50,000-word novel in 30 days is daunting, and they’d rather write a book over a span of a few months (or years), rather than just one. If you...
Don’t Let NaNoWriMo Get The Best of You: Find Your Happy Place
Do you have a go-to writing spot when you need to hit a deadline? Is it a quiet corner of your house or apartment? Or the stereotypical bustling coffee shop? What is it about your favorite writing nook that allows you to focus and write? Whatever—and wherever—it is, you’re going to want...
A Book in 30 Days: What Writers Can Learn From Rapid Publishing
BY AMANDA L. BARBARA The Internet has brought about a new age of experimentation in publishing, and stepping into the literary laboratory is the prolific storytelling duo, Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant. The authors’ recent project, “Fiction Unboxed,” was a crowdfunded experiment in writing and publishing a book live in...
5 Reasons Writers Should Participate in NaNoWriMo (Or Try to Write a Novel in 30 Days)
BY HEATHER DEBORD Three years and three wins later, I recommend NaNoWriMo to all of my writer-type friends. There are so many reasons why. Here are a few of them.
Starting NaNoWriMo: Finding the Motivation to Write
For some writers, the most difficult thing about writing is just getting started. For myself, I can’t think of anything more intimidating than a blank word document. I spend so much time trying to construct the perfect sentence that it no longer feels like writing. I analyze every word choice. That’s unhealthy....
You’re Not Alone: NaNoWriMo Experts Share Their Stories & Experiences
We are only hours away from the month of November, which means many writers will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Whether you’re a veteran or a rookie at NaNoWriMo, tackling the goal of writing 50,000 words in a month is just a tad bit intimidating. That’s why Writer’s Digest...