NaNoWriMo 2020 – Four Lessons Learned

What were the lessons learned from NaNoWriMo this year? Before I go into that, just a little context: I wrote most of this post in the morning on Saturday 28^th November. At that point, I was at just over 35,000 words, more than 11,000 words short of where I was meant to get to that day and still 15,000 words short of the full 50k. And I do apologise for the numbers spam! But that’s what was going through my head at that point. But I wanted to make some notes on what I head learned from this attempt at NaNoWriMo, not knowing whether or not I’d actually win it in the end.

Now, as it happened, I did just about make it. But there are definitely a few lessons I learned along the way which I think (I hope!) will make next year a little easier.

Sometimes your usual routine stops working, and you need to switch it up

I always used to do most of my writing in the evenings. I like being up in the morning, but it takes a while for my brain to start functioning, so writing first thing isn’t great for me. Now, I’m working with a lot of American writers, so my work day has shifted to allow for move overlap with theirs. Because I’m a freelancer I obviously get a lot more freedom than most in how I organise my working week, and my usual work hours are around 10:30-7:30. Which is great! Except when I clock off at half seven and then try to sit down and write.

It took me almost two weeks this November to realise that writing in the evening wasn’t going to do it for me anymore. Then I started building some writing time into my morning routine, right before starting my actual work. It made a definite difference! For more tips on making time for writing, check out this earlier post.

Jumping around in the story can help to unstick you if you’re struggling with your NaNoWriMo goals

I’ve historically been pretty fussy about writing my stories in order. I thought I’d lose track if I jumped around, which meant I could spend what felt like hours staring at a scene I was stuck on. When I was only at about 6000 words, 12 days into November, I knew I had to take some drastic action. So I started just hopping to wherever in the story seemed fun.

Now, not only did this help me get some nice chunks of writing in. It also gave me a point A and a point B in my story, making it easier to go back and fill in the gap later. Rather than struggling with a scene that wasn’t going anywhere, I could come back to it with a clear sense of where it needed to end up to set up my next pre-written section. 10/10, would write out of order again!

Having a NaNoWriMo team can make the world of difference

This is something I’ve learned from the lack of it this year! For NaNo 2019 two members of my family were also participating, and we did writing sprints together a couple of mornings a week. This year we didn’t arrange anything like that, and I definitely think my wordcount suffered for it.

It’s the difference between having that team spirit and sense of accountability and… not. My plan for next year is to both check in more frequently with the people I know who are also doing NaNoWriMo, and also joining in more of the sprints that run through the Twitter account.

Every little helps. Seriously.

In an ideal world, you’d space your 50,000 words out evenly throughout the month. But, in case the pandemic didn’t tip you off, this is not an ideal world.

I had a few days where I knew I didn’t have a lot of time, so I just didn’t write anything. I also had a few days where I knew I didn’t have much time, so I sat down and knocked out a few words. 200, 170, one day I only did 97! But those little bits of writing added up to 1310 words. That’s between forty minutes and an hour of writing that I didn’t have to plough through in my last weekend push!

Sometimes you really don’t have time to write, and it’s important not to berate yourself for that. But on those days that you can get a handful of words on the paper, celebrate it. That’s a gift to future-you.

What are your favourite NaNoWriMo lessons?

What tips or tricks have you picked up this year, or on previous attempts? Share any tips in the comments on your favourite NaNoWriMo tips! Or writing advice in general, if you don’t like to join the NaNo madness.