During my last three days of doing this unofficial NaNoWriMo, I wondered about my writing craft process for the future…
Day 28
It is a sad day for me. The website for NaNoWriMo has vanished. Ironic it happened while I’m in the last week of one of the best 50k words in 30 days I’ve ever done. Also ironic is that I’m doing this to prove to myself I did not need the NaNoWriMo organization to write a rough draft in one month.
I’ve said it before. The organization and the website were just supplemental items. The idea, the concept, the fun of writing fifty thousand words in thirty days can still be done. I was hoping the website would remain up on the internet, dormant, but still an archive of resources for download. I’m so glad I downloaded those resources weeks and months ago.
Something else I’ve said before: Read Chris Baty’s No Plot? No Problem. It will help put writing a rough draft of a novel in thirty days in perspective.
And remember, NaNoWriMo existed before the website. It still exists without it.
Word count for the day: 45921
Day 29
One thing I always did told myself during NaNoWriMo: Tell myself I want to maintain this energy. I want to be motivated this much every day. But the feeling would not last. That motivation, that deadline, brought forth my best efforts as far as disciplining myself to write. That’s the real tragedy with the loss of NaNoWriMo: people relied upon the deadline at midnight on day thirty. I am afraid many people think they need that deadline.
But that’s why I wanted to prove to myself I could do this. I made a self-imposed deadline and I intend to keep it. As corny as it sounds, it would be tragic for me to think I can’t do this on my own. With just one more day and a few thousand words left, I have made it a priority to wrap up this experiment in self-discipline up.
I also want to show anyone else who thinks they need the NaNoWriMo website to write fifty thousand words in one month: you can do this on your own. Or with two or three writing buddies. Or more, of course. There are Discord groups. Facebook groups. Or friends to meet at coffee shops and do this.
And who said you had to start on the first day of the month? Start on August 13th. Or March 4th. Or December 26th. The spirit of NaNoWriMo lives on, but most people do not know it. I am sure there are others who are doing their own 50k in 30 days. I know I am not being original. But I do hope if anyone sees this, they will be inspired to do the crazy thing and write.
Word count for the day: 48041
Day 30
Just for funzies, I looked at the very first NaNoWriMo I did in 2008. 17 years ago. I wanted to see how much I had “grown” as a writer. Instead, I groaned as a writer. Which I knew I would. But that’s a good thing, right?
How does it compare to the unofficial NaNoWriMo I just did this month?
One thing I remember from all those years ago is how I just wrote with abandon. I found out about NaNoWriMo the day before it started so I only had less than 24 hours to come up with characters. And, really, all I did for characters was create a list of names with a one sentence description. And this description was very surfacey. No inner characteristics, no goals, no wound.
I also made a scene list. But the scenes had no goals. Just this happens. And that happens. What I ended up with was a novel in which the antagonist didn’t even show up or was mentioned until the last 10% of the story.
When I look at my first 50k words in 30 days, I can tell I’ve definitely grown as a writer. I still have much to learn. The writing craft is like a piece of complex software: it can never really be mastered.
And I’ve learned a lot in the past 30 days. I’ve learned I put my life on hold in some areas, which is not acceptable. I need to do some laundry. I need to start reading again. I have some errands that I’ve put off all month. That’s why I plan to write an average of 555 words a day from now on. That is more sustainable. Why 555? That works out to be 50 thousand words in 3 months which is more realistic. Some days I’ll write more, of course. Some days less, but it’s a standard to go by.
Something else I’ve learned: in an ironic twist of fate, the NaNoWriMo website shut down while I did this project. I feel this would have been the smoothest NaNoWriMo I’ve ever done if it had been an official November deed. But the good news is that I learned I do not need the website or the non-profit organization to write 50k in 30 days.
I’ve learned more in this past month, and I’ll share one more thing. I am eager to take this energy I’ve gained to my regular writing WIPs (works in progress). I needed a break to do something original and different. It worked. I was afraid I would not go back, but I now can’t wait to start working on them again.
What about this project? I will let it rest for now. Once I finish one or two of my other WIPs, I’ll come back and see if it is worthy of fixing up.
So, I can say this 50k words in 30 days is a success. I hope the spirit of NaNoWriMo lives on. I believe the spirit has been freed and now people can write fifty thousand words any time they want.
Final word count: 50007
Photo by Miriam Espacio
Andrew M. Friday 
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