Editor’s Note On Writing a 50,000 Word Novel for NaNoWriMo

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f someone told me that I was going to write a 50,000 words novel in 30 days, I would have laughed at the very notion of me taking on such a challenge. Now most of us are aware of November as National Novel Writing Month or as many affectionately refer to as NaNoWriMo. This 30-day challenge is set to give anyone who has ever wanted to write a novel that hefty push to turn the ideas in their head into a real life novel. So for the first time this year, I wanted to test my muster so to speak, and see if I could join the leagues of others who embark on this writing challenge every year and actually accomplish the goal by the end of the month.

The first time I’d ever heard of NaNoWriMo was on a video Youtuber Kristina Horner ( italktosnakes) made on her own experience writing during NaNoWriMo a few years ago. Excited as any aspiring writer could be, I went on to the NaNoWriMo site and created an account that same day. I told myself that I could hardly wait for next year to come rolling around so I could take part. But when the next year came rolling around, I chose to skip the challenge because I was too “busy”. In fact, I’d become so skillful at making excuses for why I wasn’t fulfilling my goal of writing a novel that I just let the years go by.

Some people could argue that my reasons for not doing NaNoWriMo had some basis to it. I was just finishing up college and entering grad school so my time was usually spent under mountains of assignments, projects, beat reporting and trying to keep some semblance of a social life. And while these could be construed as legit reasons for not having the time for the challenge, but the truth is that I was simply afraid.

Yes, afraid.

Let’s face it. Writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days is a daunting task. Writing a novel in general is no way, shape or form, a simple endeavor. So I didn’t think I was ready or prepared to write one, let alone in 30 days. I was so awed by Kristina and many others like her who could actually sit down in front of their computer, take on the challenge and come out with their own novel. I just didn’t think it was possible, which is ironic since there has never been a time where I’m not writing, whether it’s been in school, in a journal or creating content for Modern Chic. But the thought of actually sitting down in front my computer and turn a spanking new blank Microsoft word document in a story was so difficult to wrap my mind around. And so I just filed NaNoWriMo on my bucket list, hoping some day I’d be brave enough to scratch it off my list.

Fast forward to 2015, a full five years since I’d made the initial promise to do the challenge. I was finally ready. You’re probably wondering what changed. I wish I could pinpoint the exact moment or thing that gave me the needed push to write my novel, but the truth is I don’t know. There could be many reasons why from getting older to possibly needing a recharge from my daily routine life. Who knows. And frankly, I don’t really care.

All I know is that I was going to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the entire month of November. But despite knowing a good share of what the challenge entails, nothing and no one could prepare me for the up and down creative chaos my life would become nor the life-changing journey I’d take during those 30 days.

The site encouraged us to keep a steady 1,667 words a day, which was miraculously easy to do the first week of NaNoWriMo. Scenes and characters seem to explode onto the page, leaving me almost breathless with the wild workings of my imagination. I felt like a kid in a candy store with an unlimited supply of candy money ready to devour everything in sight. This easy flow lasted for a week and half, until reality hit. And boy did it hit hard.

See I didn’t account for the hours or dedication such a challenge would take on my day to day life. I naively thought writing an average of 1700 words a day would be a breeze. But what I didn’t take into account was my day to day responsibilities of a full time job and updating Modern Chic or even my own personal responsibilities and social life. Managing all these things on top of the 30 day challenge was quickly becoming more than I could handle.

By the end of the second week, I was definitely feeling the time crunch kicking in. The 1700 words were harder and harder to type as I tackled work in the day and writing at night. Soon I was hell bent on trying to keep up with the recommended time frame and word count on the site each day that I was living and breathing NaNoWriMo. If I need to have 15,000 words by day 9 to stay on track than by golly, I would have 15,000 words by then. I was cutting everything social from my life. Friends and family members could vouch for my semi-monk appearance and lack of response during this time.

But although I tried to stay on track, life had a funny way of not going exactly along schedule. And it showed when my word count began to gradually dwindle down. To make up for this, I set a self-imposed and downright insane time frame for myself where I couldn’t leave my office until I’d reached the word count target for the day. My days consisted of late nights typing away, endless cups of tea to stay up, and listening to the relaxation music channel on Pandora to stay in the zone. My life really was this novel I was writing, which is sort of what this challenge is about. You are writing a novel in 30 days.

My self-imposed schedule kept me on track with my word count for the first two weeks, but when the third week came rolling out, it was soon becoming apparent to me that I was way over my head. And my father’s birthday trip to Vegas definitely brought the point home. How in the world was I going to balance spending time with my family to celebrate my dad’s birthday in Vegas and have time to work on my novel. There was no way I wasn’t going to give my dad the best birthday, so I went out with the rest of my family to taste and sample the delights of Vegas, and come back to the hotel later in the evening to write until I could no longer think straight. But as hard as I tried to chip away that looming word count, I just couldn’t keep up.

When I got back from Vegas, I was at my wit’s end. The strange thing was that I wasn’t exactly suffering from writer’s block. Quite the opposite. I had much to say and write, but I couldn’t get out of my mode of  trying to make each word, line, sentence and scene absolutely perfect. And this can definitely put a dent on your time management if you’re writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. As much as I tried to type freely, I would often catch myself going back to a particular character to add to their storyline or rewrite a scene that just felt like it was missing something. So I was caught in the need to make the deadline and also write a great novel.

I lasted another two days writing in this mad dash to make up the word count I’d failed to keep while I was away, and then I reached my limit. I completely stopped typing, looked down at the word count which was at 33,000 words and knew I couldn’t type anymore.

What I realized that I was so caught up with the numbers and logistics of this writing challenge that I completely forgot to enjoy the journey. I forgot to appreciate the small accomplishments every time I wrote a moving scene or laughed at one of my character’s snarky comments.

Realizing that if I kept with this insane schedule I put on myself than I would start to see writing my novel as some job rather than this beautiful and exciting journey. So after talking to my family and friends, I made the decision to stop. It wasn’t easy to make that decision. I hate quitting on anything. And this definitely felt like quitting. How could I just stop writing after all the type and energy I put in from day one?

However, something in me wouldn’t let me keep going, whether it was exhaustion or some inner conscious telling me that I had had enough. So I reluctantly closed my laptop and went to do some shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. And guess what? It felt amazing. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder. I no longer had a word count looming over my head. Sure, I was calling it quits before reaching the 50,000 words, but I realized at that moment that it didn’t really matter in the great scheme of things. After years of pushing my novel to the side, I finally put my thoughts into words. I was grateful for NaNoWriMo for giving me that needed boost.

Two days passed and for the most part I was happy and less stressed out for sure but I still felt that nagging feeling of failing to meet the challenge. So I decided to login into NanoWriMo website and check the messages on my dashboard. Now looking back at my writing journey during the month, I realize what an impact the weekly pep talk emails that the good people at NaNoWriMo sent out had on me. The one that really hit home for me was from author Stephanie Perkins ( Anna and the French Kiss). In her pep talk, she said:

[blockquote author=”” pull=”normal”]Here’s what I want you to know: The kindest thing you can do for yourself right now is to let go of this fear. Don’t worry about writing something bad. Just write.[/blockquote]

Her words stood out to me. And then it clicked. It wasn’t about me over obsessing on how quickly I could write 50,000 words or even writing the next American classic. It was simply about writing something, anything and see where it lead me. So I was back again in writing mode, only this time wiser and less caught up on the target goal. I knew with certainty that I was going to finish my book, it just wasn’t contingent on me finishing it before those 30 days were up.

So I began to type away again, only this time I did it when I was especially inspired to do so. Soon enough my plot came to life, characters gained depth and the words just flowed naturally. And on November 29th, my word count was 51,200 words.

Without realizing it, I had finally reached the 50,000 word goal. It felt absolutely fantastic. If I’m honest, I never thought it would be possible for me to not only take on the NaNoWriMo challenge but actually come out a victor. But it goes to show that anything is possible. We just have to take the leap of faith.

Was NaNoWriMo a walk in the park? Not a chance. I don’t think I’ve ever been challenged as a writer as much I was during the entire month of November. And for that fact alone, I am thankful to NaNoWriMo for giving me that much needed motivation to make my novel a reality.

For those of you reading this, and still on the fence on whether you should try to write a novel or not, I say do it. Will you get bumps along the journey? Absolutely. But like Perkins said, don’t let fear stop you from going for it.

Just write. You never know where it can lead you. Best of luck!

For more information on NaNoWriMo, head over to their site www.nanowrimo.org