My NaNoWriMo: Simon P Clark

The whole thing's best avoided. It's not writing, it's point scoring.

Except – of course – that it's not. It's magical. NaNoWriMo is one of those experiences, like running a marathon or skydiving (or having a child, maybe) that you can talk about all you wish, but you're not really qualified - you don't really know - until you've done it. 

My own NaNoWriMo journey began back in 2010. I was living in Japan, and dating a girl who lived two hours away. We met up when we could, both travelling an hour to a convenient location in between our respective cities. That location happened to be Tokyo - a city with an endless supply of things to do, but a limited number of them for free.

'Why don't we write together?' she asked, before pointing out that November was coming, and with it, NaNoWriMo. I'd never heard of such a thing, but I was already working to become a writer, and anyway, I didn't want to seem like a wimp.

'No problem!' I said. 'How hard can it be?'

NaNoWriMo is hard. 50,000 words in a month is a challenge and the only reason it doesn't send more people mad is the fantastic community of support, encouragement and criticism that springs up. The website itself is just the beginning - local groups add a human touch to the mass of scribbling and word counting. For me, doing it with someone added a healthy dose of daily competition and accountability. 

What were the most useful things? I wrote every day, with one day off a week. For those doing the math, that means just shy of 2000 words per day, every day. I found split shifts worked best for me - writing in the morning and evening. Afternoon distractions made writing impractical. Slipping for just one day – and needing a 4000 word catch-up – could easily lead to discouragement and too much slow down.

I kept Skype open while I wrote, together-but-apart from my partner-in-arms. Half hour check-ins - 'How many now?' - helped to begin with, but faded out as we realized that you can't make it all about the words.

What were the most damaging things? The Internet, of course, and its multitude sparkling distractions. Over-thinking, certainly - getting stumped on a plot point but refusing to move on. Not having enough tea at one point was probably a bad idea.

As far as advice for this year's NaNowriMers goes, however, I have only two very simple things to share. Firstly, planning is good, as long as you're flexible. Stories breath and change as you shine light on them, and you need the freedom to go where they lead. A bare bones structure is important as long as, when you're fleshing it out, you let things progress as they need to. Secondly - and I think this is the most important point - it's not actually about the words. 50,000 is a goal, certainly, but it's arbitrary in many ways. A lot of children's novels are well rounded and complete at 40,000. Don't force it. A lot of novels that end up far longer than 50,000 get there with work and time. NaNoWriMo is fun - immense fun - and it's best not to let the stress of 'failure' (which it isn't) put you off.

Enjoy the community, the rush of coming together for one moment in time, and the fact you're telling a story. If you write even 500 words that you wouldn't have written otherwise, then you're ahead.

Good luck, writers. If you want further inspiration, how about this - the girlfriend who suggested we write together would become my fiancée, and then my wife, only a year and a bit later. And the book I spent those hours on, typing away in the Japanese night, will be published next year, after all this time.

Write on.

For more of our NaNoWriMo coverage, please take a look here.