On November 1, the challenge begins as the clock strikes midnight, local time.Here is a breakdown of the NaNoWriMo rules to help you stay on track. While the goal is writing 50,000 words in the month of November, how you get there is flexible. The catch? In order to win, you need to register your project on the NaNoWriMo website and log your word count between November 1 and November 30.ĭigital badges and Scrivener discounts aside, the real prize is writing 50,000 words and having a first draft completed in 30 days. Sponsors provide other winner goodies, including discounts to writing software and publishing services. Winners receive digital banners and certificates to use on their website or social media and T-shirts are also available for purchase. For many, this number is still overwhelming, which is one reason NaNoWriMo is such an exciting challenge. Most people break this big number into a smaller, daily word count of 1,667 to make it feel more achievable. However, actually getting to that word count will take some discipline and strategy. If you can write 50,000 words between November 1 and November 30 then you win! “Winning” NaNoWriMo is both simple and hard. Here is a brief overview of the rules, along with guidelines to help you win NaNoWriMo. If you haven’t heard of this annual event, or you’re ready to join the challenge for the first time, this will be a great primer. If you have reached the 50,000-word goal, you will receive a downloadable certificate, your name will appear on the list of winners, and in December, you'll be able to collect your prizes.In book-writing circles, November is National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. Verification is available starting on the 25th of the month. The website gets a great deal of traffic during the first and last couple of days of November. Verify your word count early if you can.The NaNoWriMo website does not save or publish your manuscript, but if you are concerned about anybody reading your story, there is a tool available that will jumble the manuscript so it will become unreadable without altering the word count. To verify your word count, you will upload your entire manuscript or paste it into the website once at the end of the month.Remember that even if you only hit 10 or 20k, that's more than most people ever write. You can finish writing it if you think you have anything to salvage, but your word count as of the end of November 30 is your final NaNo word count. Even if you have not hit 50,000, you must stop now and turn in your word count. Now for the hard, painful part: when midnight, local time, the night of November 30 hits, stop. The website keeps a graph of these updates. You can update your word count at any time through your user profile. This is optional, but it does help you stay positive and encourages you to keep going. However, don't overwhelm yourself so much that you experience burnout. This is to accommodate for writer's block, which you may get from time to time. See the pattern? You have a smaller and smaller goal every week. Try to hit 35,000 by the next week, 45k the following week, and 50k in the next few days. No doubt, it will be nearly impossible to do it, but even if you do not make 20,000, you will be a good bit ahead in case you miss a day of writing. Try to get 20,000 words by the seventh day. (Also, there is a thread in which to post such amusing disasters.) Someday you will look back at the hilarious typos and the Freudian slips and laugh. The backspace key will only reduce your word count do not let it! If your novel is utter junk, well, you are not alone. Notes will help you keep your place without too much back reading. Read back only enough to get your place in the story and continue. Don't go back and reread your previous day's writing each day you will be tempted to fiddle with it.A simple page or text document will help you keep them in order. You may be surprised at how quickly you will forget who was who. Keep a list of your characters as you name them. Refer to them often, because you may forget a key component later, which means you have to think some more. You should have your notes handy, and just start writing based on what you have plotted out. Midnight (in your time zone) on November 1 is the official start of NaNoWriMo.
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