NaNoWriMo

Before I became an author, I had never heard of NaNoWriMo.  The gist of it is that you sit down and write 50 000 words throughout the month of November, working on a novel.  A few well known novels got their start this way.  The non-profit has a webpage - www.nanowrimo.org

I have a regular writing routine, so I chose not to participate this year, but I did decide to keep track of my productivity more closely, keeping track of how many words I wrote each day on book 3 of the Forest Guardians series.  I did not include any writing on my other novels or personal stories.

As of this weekend, had I been participating, I would have achieved my 50 000 words this month.  I keep in touch with other authors, and one thing we like to talk about is productivity.  Successful authors who write a lot of books tend to average over 2000 words a day.  Sometimes authors who have a main career outside of writing manage as few as 300-400 a day, on breaks and while commuting, and so on.  Those are dedicated authors, to be sure!

I tend to average over 2000 words a day.  Some days more than 6000 flow from me easily, like if I'm writing a major scene that the whole story hinges on.  If I'm tired, it may be as little as 1000 words.  That's just me, though.  Still, it made NaNoWriMo possible for me, had I chosen to participate.

I chose not to, solely so I could see how my own writing was doing, and because I do have a routine that works.  My books tend to be around 80 000 words long, which is pretty standard for a Young Adult Fantasy book.  By having a word count, I can make sure my plotting works and that scenes happen where they need to.  While it's more of a guideline, knowing where to build and where to ease off, where a major point is, and when to move along, all that helps make a gripping novel.

I did visit the NaNoWriMo page today, out of curiosity.  They do appear to have some good resources for young writers.  I think anything that helps people get creative and write is a good thing.  If you want to be a writer, learn and read and study the craft.  It'll improve your writing so much.  Each novel you write will make you a better writer.  What are you waiting for?  Get writing!