A Twisted Guide to NaNoWriMo by Kate Bemis

With a month to go, NaNoWriMo sits on the horizon. Ominously. Threateningly. It’s an annual menace, glaring at me through the blinds of October.

I couldn’t be more thrilled. 

If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, I’m here to fill you in! NaNoWriMo stands for: National Novel Writing Month. In other words, within the month of November, you have one overarching goal: write 50,000 words. Break those numbers down and you have 1,667 words a day. Enough words to classify as a novel. Enough words to regret ever signing up for it. It’s perfect.

As a loyal NaNoWriMo participant since 2016, I’ll be the first to tell you it’s not easy. 2016-2023 is 8 years worth of participation, and I’ve only managed to complete the challenge three times. But, hey, that’s three novels worth of writing! 

However, NaNoWriMo doesn’t need to be novel-based. I’ve never been very strict on the end product, usually leaning more towards short stories. I just need 50,000 words, however I can get them. I’ll write a short story every day. Three short stories every day. An essay on how Jack could have fit on the door and how Rose could have made space for him. Anything. As long as I hit 1,667 words a day, I’ve won. 

As someone with (oh, look at that! Six fully fleshed out story ideas, none written) crippling perfectionism, NaNoWriMo is a necessity. I like to edit my work. I like it to be perfect or never even written. And spoiler alert: It will never be perfect.

So, now you’ve accepted that it won’t be good. And you don’t have time to reread what you’ve written or cut down sentences. You need as many words as you can get your hands on! This is when I go crazy. Half of my characters’ dialogue is F-bombs. Random side quests appear. I’m giving animals voices and opinions. The more attitude, the more words, the better.

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember most of my NaNoWriMo stories. The further into the month you go, the better you get at simply… turning off your brain. In fact, I end up letting my subconscious take charge with such authority that I barely ever know what I’m saying. An inter-dimensional raccoon? Sure. A talking shovel that used to be a terrifying demon? Why not. As long as it’s 1,667 words, I’m good to go!

You get creative when you turn off the left side of your brain. You start to surprise yourself. Your writing innately improves just because you’re doing so much of it. You forget how creative you can be when you’re not trying to be. You enjoy it again. 

If you’re still not convinced, I’ll offer one last thing. As a filmmaker and screenwriter, I come up with my own projects. In 2022, I wrote my first-ever feature film. The story originated from a NaNoWriMo one-off in 2017, that I reread a year previous. Only 1,667 words and it ended up impacting my entire future. 

NaNoWriMo is a fantastic means for improving your writing, creativity, and perfectionism. Even my non-writer friends join the challenge, curious to see what they come up with. 

It’s a month until NaNoWriMo, so buckle your seatbelts. You can plan it, pants it, or do anything in between! Join the community of writers and watch yourself grow.

Not sponsored, just a blog post written by someone with genuine affection for the organization.  I hope to see you there when the time comes!