5 Ways to Fail NaNoWriMo (and how to win next year)

After many years of deliberating over whether or not I wanted to try National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I decided to give it a go this year.

And of course I chose the worst year to do it.

Senior year of high school.
PSEO.
Working.
College prep.
LIVING, for goodness sake.




Sooooo ya. Idiot over here. But the good thing about this was that I got out there and TRIED. I wrote 19,000 words which, for me, is AMAZING. Guys, I'm writing a novel. And I'm making progress. NaNo helped with that, and I am SO HAPPY I DID IT THIS YEAR. It also gave me practice so I can know how to be better prepared to WIN next year.

So here's my crash course on how to fail NaNo!


1. DON'T WRITE EVERY DAY. This should be obvious, right? Ya no. Apparently not for me. *rolls eyes* When you need to write 50,000 words in 31 days, it is really important to get words on paper (or screen) EVRY. SINGLE. DAY. There was a long stretch in the beggining where I actually wrote every day. (Actually, I lied. I didn't write anything on the first Saturday. But I was going to! i just fell asleep before I started. i was like, "Man, i am TIRED. I'll just snuggle in my deep, warm covers for a minute, and then get up into the cold air to grab my laptop and write. BRILLIANT. Ever notice that once you're in those covers, it's gonna take Hell or high water to get you back out? Mmmmhmmm...)

2. DON'T HAVE YOUR PLOT WELL...PLOTTED. okay okay, so we all know how much plots suck.... or do they?? Yeah no they suck. At least, WRITING them out sucks, but when you've got a good basis for your book, that allows you to focus entirely on those words instead of those plot holes and gaps. I wish I would have done this better this year. Plots are not my strong suit, but if I had taken the time to lay out the mini plot in each chapter, I would have been able to spend more time writing and less working on the plotting!

3. BUDDIES? WHO NEEDS BUDDIES? I think being more consistent with encouraging my NaNo buddies and receiving that in return would really have helped me. It is HARD to try and write a flippin' novel in a month, but if i had been more active with my fellow NaNoers, I know I would have done better,

4. PROCRASTINATE ON THAT BEAUTIFUL THING CALLED THE INTERNET. Yeah...the internet is my downfall. If you wanna work on your book every day, stay away from the ol' internet (that includes Netflix, Netflixers!!!). You tell yourself *just one quick peek* *I'll just check my notifications and then hop rigt off* three hours later? You're watching YouTube videos of how to sew tulle skirts...no seriously that happened. THE INTERNET IS FROM THE DEVIL STAY AWAY FROM IT IN NOVEMBER.

5. GET STUCK AND STAY STUCK. We're writers. Getting stumped on a part of our book is what. we. do. So the best way to fail NaNo is to sit there and stare at the screen until you loose your mind or fall asleep when you've hit a wall. Wanna not fail NaNo? Move onto another part of the book. Write a scene from the middle or end. WORK IN CHUNKS. I did this a bit, and that's what helped me get my word count up as high as I did. I was stuck on a boring main-character-is-poisoned-and-keeps-blacking-out section. B.O.R.I.N.G so I went and wrote a torture scene instead. THRILLING. There was lots of whipping and blood and screaming involved. As well as some blacking out, actually. WOW AM I ALWAYS THIS GRUESOME I AM SO SORRY. I'm not actually. But I AM getting sidetracked. xD YOU GET MY POINT, I BELIEVE.


So all that to say, did I fail NaNoWriMo this year? Miserably. Will I do it again next year? Absolutely. Did I make progress on my book? I totally did! And that makes me happy. I did win something this month, and if you are in the same boat as me, take courage - you are a writer, and you wrote. Congrats. :)

P.S. 'Ey! Budday! Link me up, buddies. :) http://nanowrimo.org/participants/irenegrey