NaNoWriMo: the ultimate writer’s programme?

Festive drinks arriving to our coffee menus, the start of Christmas shopping chaos, fairy lights strewn around town… for most people these are some of the highlights of November, the beginning of the exciting lead up to Christmas. For many writers? NaNoWriMo. The writing challenge we have a great love-hate relationship with. 

For those who haven’t heard of NaNoWriMo, it’s essentially a month-long writing project that started in 1999 and it encourages writers to try to write 50,000 words of a novel in November. Writing goals can be edited to be higher or lower, depending on how much time you can actually devote to writing, but 50,000 is the standard the website will set you off on. The NaNoWriMo organisation is super useful for keeping you as motivated as possible with your writing. 

That’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo, it really is all down to you 

There are ‘pep-talks’, for example, from well-known bestselling authors. In the past years, the following have been among some of the big names: VE Schwab, Lemony Snicket, John Green and Rainbow Rowell. Plus, daily ‘care packages’ in your inbox give you a simple writing prompt or challenge to help you meet your daily goal. That being said, you definitely don’t have to do these if it isn’t up your alley, or you can simply pick and choose the ones you fancy having a go at. That’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo, it really is all down to you.  

Once you sign up to NaNoWriMo, the age-old question of all writers will undoubtedly be asked: are you a plotter or a pantser? It’s a big debated theme. For the plotters out there – and how I wish I could have your level of preparation – the work begins in October as frantic character profile building and outlining is started. Me? I’ve always been a pantser. No matter how much I try to rectify this situation, whenever 1 November hits all I have that’s even close to a plan is a vague idea in my head of what world I’m writing in and a few basic characters. If you stop to consider for a few seconds, where do you fall on this issue? This is one of the most important questions you’ll have to answer. After all, everyone always wants to know how authors come about their ideas.

Is November the best month for this event, particularly as a student with so many work deadlines before Christmas and shorter days in general?

I first took part in NaNoWriMo in 2013, when I was 14, and I’ve tried to do it every year since. Being a competitive person, I’ve somehow managed to win most years (though it’s not always been an easy feat, and my word count goal has had to be lower than 50,000 once or twice). But lately uni and studying have been getting more and more in the way. 

This year is the first time in eight years that I haven’t signed myself up for NaNoWriMo – final year and daily writing apparently don’t go hand in hand well. This then leads me to ask the question: is November the best month for this event, particularly as a student, with so many work deadlines before Christmas and shorter days in general? Arguably, for us students the answer is no; it’s such a hectic time of year that writing fifty thousand words on top of our usual workload seems crazy! Yet, I think this is part of what makes NaNoWriMo special. It’s a temporary escape from the busy real world. 

Plus, there are two other months in which NaNoWriMo runs a similar writing programme, called Camp NaNo (usually April and July), which is essentially the same concept but in these different months. These ‘Camps’ have a greater emphasis on the ‘fun’ part of writing, putting you into cabin writing groups so you can chat to others with ease. For me, these are often better, since the event that takes place in July is obviously after the exam period so I have much more free time. I also enjoy getting to know other writers and having the added motivation of others in a virtual cabin with me, so we can bounce ideas and goals off each other.

If you have even a small interest in creative writing, I can’t recommend NaNoWriMo enough. Sure, November might not be the best month for uni students to write, but NaNoWriMo is mainly for fun – if you don’t reach your goal it really doesn’t matter, no one will judge you for it. The main aim is to enjoy yourself and have more words written at the end of the month than you did at the start, even if it’s just a hundred words, that’s still an achievement. November has already passed this year, but go ahead, sign yourself up for Camp NaNo in Spring, you might just surprise yourself with what you get done.