National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a big writing event that happens every November. The goal is for writers to push out a 50,000+ word novel in the space of one month and the ‘coat of arms’ for the event contains four things that every participant will need – pen, paper, computer, and coffee. This isn’t for the faint-hearted; it isn’t for those who have a half-hearted attitude to writing. It is one of the most difficult writing marathons ever and is a fantastic experience for anyone brave enough to join in.

Started in 1999, the event has steadily been growing in popularity. The very first event saw 21 entrants and 6 winners while in 2018 almost 300,000 people took part with just over 35,000 winners. While the actual writing part of the event takes place through November, a title for your book must be created in October – this can be changed at a later date if you want. Once you begin writing in November, you can let NaNoWriMo know what your word count is as you go along and you can earn badges for achievements along the way.

If you are intending to take part you will want:

A reliable laptop or desktop computer

Pens and paper

Loads of good ideas for your novel

Coffee on tap

November has 30 days so, to be in with a chance of completing your novel, you need to aim for a minimum of 1,667 words per day. Miss a day and that daily word count goes up – the more days you miss, the more you have to write each day that’s left.

The good thing is, you don’t need to wait about until November. You can join one of the writing camps that NaNoWriMo offers – these help you to work on novels, long and short, at any time; when you join you are assigned to a camp that has up to 20 writers, all providing encouragement and support to one another.

30-Day NaNoWriMo Preparation Checklist

To join the fun you need a strategy under your belt – this is far too challenging to just jump in at the start without a plan in place. The minute you sign up for NaNoWriMo, your mind will start work. You will find yourself constantly thinking about your novel; unconsciously, you will be thinking about problems you will face and how to overcome them and you might even find yourself coming up with sentences for your novel long before November gets here.

That’s all well and good but, if you want the first draft of your novel completed inside that 30-day timeframe, you need to take time out to prepare for it.  The best authors in the world spend a lot of time planning their books, right down to the smallest detail. If you are writing non-fiction, it is even more vital that you have the structure of your book planned out, each chapter, subchapter and so on, and that you have all the research done before you start writing.

Join me in part two as I provide the first part of your NaNoWriMo preparation checklist.