9 Steps to National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) Success!

National Novel Writing Month – or Nanowrimo as it’s better known, is an initiative that many writers take part in – where they try to write an entire novel in the month of November. Despite the name it’s actually international – with people all over the world taking part, and rather than having a completed finished novel – the specific goal is to have written 50,000 words. This usually constitutes most of the first draft of a novel.

The mission statement of the official Nanowrimo team is: National Novel Writing Month believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.

We believe this special month is a great way for writers to find motivation and help push their writing goals forward and achieve writing progress where it may have been stalling under the grind of everyday. Focussing on having a concerted push for a short period of time can be very effective and the fact that so many other people are taking part at the same time offers a great atmosphere and air of competitiveness as well as camaraderie.

The goal of 50,000 words is a fantastic one, but the point is to improve as a writer, so adjusting the goal to suit your needs is definitely a good option. Perhaps you just want to write 25,000 words, or perhaps your goal will be to edit your first draft and get it into second draft status. Make it suit you.

We’ve put together our list of 9 best bits of advice to help you on your way to achieving the nanowrimo goal. Follow them all to greatly increase your chances of success!