Hello out there in InspyRomance land! How are y’all?
It’s November now, and if you know very many writers at all, or follow many on social media, you’ve probably seen NaNoWriMo, or simply NaNo, come up.
And you’ve probably wondered what that is – and what it means to readers!
In short, it means BOOKS!
It’s National NOVEL WRITING Month. Authors are challenged to write a novel in a month. Just like it sounds. For NaNo purposes, they count a novel as 50,000 words. That is a bit on the short side (Love Inspired books, for instance, are just a smidge longer in the 50-55K range; LI Historicals are longer), but it is long enough to be a full story – or a great start to one.
The story goes like this:
In July 1999, a guy named Chris Baty and about 20 of his friends decided to write a novel in a month. The next year, they moved it to November. Out of 140 participants, 29 finished the 50K words. In 2001, 700 of 5000 “won.” According to the wiki, in 2010 a total of 2,872,682,109 words were written. A longer (and much more interesting! Seriously – you’ll smirk if not laugh a few times!) history can be found on the NaNoWriMo website.
Official NaNo rules are pretty simple. A new book. 50K words written between 00:00:01 on November 1 and 11:59:59 on November 30 (in your time zone!). Not co-authored. And it’s pretty much all on the honor system. Though they have an automated way to count the words in your manuscript, there’s no one looking over your shoulder to make sure you didn’t copy the same paragraph a few thousand times.
I first heard about it in 2007. I had an infant son who wasn’t entirely healthy and spent half of November in the hospital, including surgery. But, I attempted it. And managed to squeak out a win (that was probably the longest wedding ceremony ever written into a book ;). Every potential word spoken or repeated was in there :D.) – I had a group of friends cheering me on and they were as excited as I was to hit 50K at about 11:45 pm on November 30!
In 2009, I got serious and wrote my first actual novel (rather just for fun throwaway stuff). I want to polish and publish it someday.
2010: a romantic suspense I don’t talk about much ;)
2011: wrote the book that became my debut novel, Finding Mr. Write
2012: wrote the book that became Good Enough for a Princess
2013: wrote the book that became Winning the Queen’s Heart
2014: worked on Prince from her Past
2015: worked on what eventually became Ballots, Bargains, & the Bakery
This year, I’m being super ambitious. I’m working on learning to do dictation rather than typing it all. I hear stories All. The. Time. of people who write 3000 words or more consistently that way. We’ll see how it goes.
My ultimate goal, dictated or not? Two full rough drafts of 75K words or so each. The second and third books in the Serenity Landing Second Chances series are calling my name! I’m hoping to plow through the second one and then start on the third immediately. That would put release dates likely in January and March or so by the time the editing gets done.
It is doable. The fastest I ever wrote a rough draft was what eventually became Falling for Mr. Write in 13 days. 73,000 words in 13 days. That’s an average 5615 words a day. Next month, I’m shooting for 6000 words a day for 25 days (because birthday parties…and Thanksgiving…etc).
And if I don’t make it all the way through both? Hopefully, I’ve got at least one plus done and I’m that much further ahead.
Chris Baty did say this about his 2003 NaNo (when he wrote both a novel and No Plot? No Problem!, a nonfiction guide to NaNo): Which completely proved the NaNoWriMo maxim “the busier you are, the easier it is.
We’ll see if that maxim holds true for me this year. I’ll be blogging regularly about it over on my website. Usually it’s not much more than a daily update and short-to-medium-ish paragraph or two about how the day went, but it keeps me honest ;).
So for readers, in a nutshell, NaNo means authors go kinda crazier than usual, but there’s BOOKS! And more books are pretty much always a good thing ;).
To prepare for this year’s NaNo, I’m giving away a kindle copy of Discovering Home, book 1 in the Serenity Landing Second Chances series (or any of my other NaNo books if you’ve already read this one)!
Jonathan William Langley-Cranston IV has come to terms with the idea that he just might remain single and childless for the rest of his life. It’s not his first choice, but it seems to be what God has for him, at least for now. Until a chance encounter with a familiar face changes his outlook.
MacKenzie Davidson has been a single mom since before her daughter was born. Just once, she’d love not to worry about losing her job or what will happen if her fledgling yarn dyeing business doesn’t take off. A stormy night and flooded road bring the straws that finally break the back of her independent streak.
Her knight-in-shining-SUV comes in the form of American royalty. She’s read enough of the tabloids to know that’s how Jonathan’s family is seen and knows she can’t begin to measure up.
But when he puts everything aside to help her, her daughter, and her now-floundering business, she begins to wonder. Jonathan quickly comes to believe he’s found everything he’s looking for. Will they find their way to each other or will they be ripped apart before discovering home?
When she's not writing about her imaginary friends, Carol Moncado is hanging out with her husband and four kids in the big yard of their southwest Missouri home, teaching American Government at a community college, reading, or watching NCIS. She's a member of ACFW and RWA, President and founding member for the MozArks ACFW group, and a category coordinator for ACFW's First Impressions.
Wow, what a fun challenge. Hope you get lots written-then I can read it:) Loved Discovering Home, have fun writing:)
Thanks Carol for your informative blog about our writing journey and NaNoWriMo, an interesting goal setting concept. I admire the dedication of writers, especially self-publishing authors. As a student, I always aced writing a research paper or articles for my college newspaper, but was never good at writing fiction. I entered a 10 K story for an English teacher Mahler competition, but had three months to write. As I often told my high school English students, writing is hard work and requires many steps. The most important getting the words on paper. That is what NaNoWriMo does.
Happy writing to you and all the talented authors participating in National Novel Writing Month. May your muse be with you! I enjoyed reading Good Enough for a Princess.
I LOVED reading this, Carol. I’m a huge fan of NaNoWriMo. My first book which releases in March, 2017 was written during NaNo in 2010. That was the first time I participated and I loved it. My second book currently with my editor was my 2012 NaNo project. I’m on board this month and approaching the 10k words. I need a deadline, so this competition works well for me. Happy Writing!
My first book was a NaNo project too :) I’m working on a book that’s a March release and while I’m aiming for 2,500 words a day, it’s mostly because I know weekends won’t happen.
Thanks for sharing about the competition and good luck.
Happy writing! Thanks for writing! I’ve loved your books.
This was all new and interesting to me. Does the pressure get to you or make you more creative?
Sometimes I work better under pressure but mostly I get tired and frustrated.
Whew! Carol! I can’t believe you wrote a book in 13 days! I’m impressed. :) Best wishes to you this NaNo season!
WHOA!!! Two books for NaNo. Talk about butt in chair. I’m impressed.
10,000 words? That’s awesome! Way to go, Jill!!
And here I spent two days debating (pantser, I tell ya!) if I could get 50K done this month! I’ve “won” NaNo four times, but all last decade, and I haven’t published any of them. They’re among my apprentice pieces.
Congrats on making NaNo a success. Every year I sign up, but I fail. That doesn’t mean I don’t get a book written but my process doesn’t fit with the NaNo scenario. I learned long ago that a writer has to write with their own process not someone else’s.
Hi Wemble! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’m loving this new one so far!
I’ve always loved writing. My favorite part is fast drafting the first draft, so NaNo is right in my wheelhouse. Editing is the part I LOATHE! :p
Like Sally said, Way to go Jill! I’m waaaaaaaaaay behind on my goal (though only a bit behind the NaNo goal). I write best at night. Two nights ago I was on pins and needles waiting to hear how my daughter did at her first district band auditions. Last night, there was some baseball game going on… ;)
Good for you! 2500 words is a great goal per day and does allow some wiggle room for weekends or like Thanksgiving…
Thanks for stopping by Priscila!
Thanks Diana! That’s what every writer loves to hear! :D
Usually I work better. Generally speaking, the faster I write the first draft the better it is – both the actual words plus the plot. Weird, but that’s the way it is…
Thanks Jill! I can’t believe it either! That was during SpeedBo one year over on Seekerville! If I could just get a string of “normal” days it would better…then I remember normal is only a setting on a washing machine… Today, it’s a vet visit…
There’s been a lot of butt in chair time so far. Not as much fingers on keyboard :p… We’ll see how it goes…
You could totally do it! I know how fast you can write! I’ve learned something about myself, though. If I set a goal of say 50K on a new novel, I might hit it. I might even hit 55K. But if I set a goal of 90K (or whatever), I might only get 75K, but I’m still far better off than I would have been with a goal that wasn’t as challenging. You know?
YES! For some writers, the NaNo process works well! For others, not as much! Everyone has their own process. Those of us who send our inner editors on a month long cruise while we fast draft the first draft tend do well with NaNo. Those who basically have a completed polished draft by the time they finish the first draft, generally not as much.
Haha! I loved that baseball game. I thought I’d be farther along on my goal by now, but it’s only the third day. There are a few more days left lol. Happy writing Jill and Carol!
Very good news for readers, indeed! I love your stories, Carol! Happy writing!
I love hearing “behind the scenes” tidbits about being an author. As a non writer, it’s amazing to me that you can finish an entire novel in one month.
Thanks, Beth Erin! I’m so glad to hear that!
“Finish” is a bit of a misnomer. My books tend to require a fair bit of editing that will take weeks longer. Some people don’t do well with NaNo style writing, but by the time they finish their first draft, it barely needs a polish to be done. There’s no wrong way. Except not writing at all ;).
I admire anyone who can write that much in a month–especially in November! Seems like it would be easier in January. LOL Good luck to all you writers out there! I think I’ll just read instead.
I always love your posts and this one is so interesting. So glad you took the NaNoWriMo challenge because I love your books. Good luck on your goal of 6000 words a day. Makes my head spin! I did a lot of writing when I was working (retired now) and dictated it. It was much easier. Hope it works for you.
I think March might actually be best for me ;). Or maybe October. Pretty sure they were a bunch of single guys when they picked November :D.
I still haven’t really gotten to the dictation. Part of my problem is that I write so much better late at night. But then there’s like… people in my house. Even if they are asleep… :p I’m gonna try again though… ;) And I haven’t quite hit 6K for the month just yet, much less a day :p.
I’m also doing NaNo this year. I’ve won the last three years (every year since I made the plunge to attempt NaNo). This year’s a bit wonky for me, since I’ve had an editing deadline the first week. So I’m working on revisions of a novel the first week-plus, then will finish up my outline for a new project and dive into that one (while continuing revisions on the first project). Yeah… hoping that busyness-equals-easiness thing works out.
Happy writing!
Andrea
andrearenee2004@yahoo.com
I once heard the acronym from an American friend – thanks for the explanation. It sounds like a very busy month!! Discovering Home is the only one of your books that I don’t have (yet) … would love to win Jonathan’s story!
Hi Carol, Good luck with your 2016 Nano Challenge! :)
I really enjoyed reading your post! All the best to you in future challenges!!