If you've been following me on Instagram, I've taken this last week to discuss how I approach starting draft one and how I sustain my writing throughout NaNoWriMo. In summary, these are the key points to my writing process I find help me during National Novel Writing Month.
Start: The hardest part of writing is starting. But it's a good reminder that this is the first draft of many. It's meant to be messy. It's meant to be incoherent. It's meant to be beautifully imperfect. Just write about what you love and what makes you excited about this story. And if you're stuck, research is always a great place to start.
Balance: Many of us doing NaNoWriMo are not full-time writers. We have other responsibilities in our lives such as work or family so it's important to find a time to write that works for you.
Repeat: Find a routine that works for you an repeat the steps. Just keep writing. Some days you're not going to feel like writing. That's okay. Do it anyway. NaNoWriMo is a great tool that will help you establish the discipline needed as a writer.
Replenish: Take time to refill your creative well. NaNoWriMo is a marathon, not a sprint. You'll need to replenish your writing energy along the way to finish the race.
Celebrate: Make sure you celebrate when you hit small milestones and the big ones. Writing is hard and hitting your word count during NaNoWriMo is a big deal. You should feel proud of yourself and celebrate your story.
What really helps me stay on track and hit my word count goals for NaNoWriMo is making a plan beforehand. I love planning out my word count goals and my rewards. So I've decided to share the workbook I made for myself that helps me maintain my sanity during NaNoWriMo.
I made it with Canva and I personally like a bit of a blank canvas that I can make my own so I've only provided the basic structure for you to get creative with.
The first workbook page I use to fill out my goals, rewards, and basic notes on my project (essentially what you fill out on the National Novel Writing Month website about your novel).
The second through sixth workbook pages I use to sketch out my daily word count goals and visualize when I will get my rewards. When I hit a daily word count goal, I color in the pencil. And when I hit my word count goals for rewards, I celebrate! I've seen a bunch of writers use all sorts of methods to track their word counts for NaNoWriMo, but I thought I'd share mine just in case you'd find it helpful!
For more blog posts on NaNoWriMo, see the links below:
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Hope to see you around here sometime soon!
Taylor
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