we're happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way.

National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo is an annual creative writing project happening right here on the internet! The goal is to write a novel during the month of November. A Novel in this case is a work of fiction that is at least 50 000 words long. Anyone from anywhere can participate, and write in the language of their choosing. If you want to read more about the rules (there's not many, but a few things you should know) or you want to take part in this insanely awesome project go to NaNoWriMo.org and register. and start writing. but not until November!

this is my first year doing NaNo, so i'm really not an expert in any of this. it's been something i've been wanting to do for few years, but always thought it was maybe too insane for me. but this year i decided it's not, even if it is, that's kind of the whole point. here are some tips/rules i've made for myself to get through November as a relatively sane person while having fun getting lost to my own imagination.



1. Don't Be Afraid to Suck!
you are most likely going to suck, at least a little. nobody writes a good novel in a month. even published authors rewrite their books over and over again. what you are writing during NaNo is the first draft. also if it really sucks, you don't ever have to show it to anyone. or show it to someone and laugh over it.

2. Write Every Day!
it would be good to write about 1500 words/day, to keep up with the schedule, but sometimes it's just impossible. just write even a little, so you won't get too behind with your writing. also it's sort of the point of NaNo, to write as much as possible.

3. Make Plans!
Plan your story! What's it about? Who are the main characters? Where is it happening? i'm not usually much of a planner, i'm go with the flow type of person. yet for my NaNo i have done a rough outline for what's going to happen, i've made elaborate mappings of my characters, i've written small synopsis for chapters. yet there's still a lot of room for spontaneity, but these things will help me if, or when i hit a writers block.

4. Write a story you will enjoy writing!
this is actually something i leanred from my old photography teacher when working in darkroom, to work on a photograph i was excited about, that i was willing to work on, so that when i would get frustrated, i would still have motivation to see the end result. and this applies with writing too. be excited about your story, don't think about if anyone would like it. if you love it then it's worth writing.

5. Don't rewrite!
Normally when i write, i'm always rewriting stuff, and that's good. but not during NaNo. the only way to win NaNo is to have 50 000 words, it doesn't matter whether the story is good, if everything makes sense, if you have a typo somewhere, all that matters is the word count. December and 2013 are for rewriting and editing. or not, if you just want to write a NaNo and leave it at that, that's fine too.

6. Have Crazy Fun!
it is going to be insane! crazy! but at the end of the month you can say you are a novelist! you have written a novel, completely by yourself, in a month. that will always be an amazing accomplishment, something you can be proud of. or if you fail, at least you had an amazing november, and there's always next year.

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if you are doing NaNo i would be happy to be writing buddies with you!