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Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

Alternatives to NaNoWriMo

Camia Rhodes

So I have done NaNoWriMo and at least by the second time, I got to 8,000 words. The first time I don’t even think I hit 1,000. But I think I know where I went wrong each time: I had no plan. The first time I just wrote whatever, no thought to my novel at all and the second time, I had an idea (a great idea for a novel) but I wasn’t prepared. I had no outline and no schedule for when and how much I write. So today we’re going to talk about how to prepare and endure for a novel writing challenge as well as discuss some alternatives to NaNoWriMo. This way you can compare and see which option works best for you. So let’s get started. 

Preparedness 

When I started looking for alternatives to NaNoWriMo, I stumbled across this article from Master Class. I do recommend reading the whole article but we’ll skip ahead to the “5 Tips for Participating in a 30-Day Writing Challenge.” 

  1. Be Prepared - before you start typing, have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. Whether that be working on your book’s structure, just completing your first draft, trying out different creative writing forms, or just prepping in general. I would also add having an outline or developing your characters. Prep however you like, just have an idea and what you’re prepping for. 

  2. Get Organized - Put your writing schedule in your calendar. This way you won’t be tempted to skip days and you’ll know where you are and where you need to go. 

  3. Build Up To It - The article suggests you should start small, writing 5 days a week, but you can start in whatever capacity works best for you. Whether that be establishing a count per day or a specific goal per day, such as completing one chapter a day or developing a character’s backstory in a certain number of days. And once you feel you’ve conquered that goal, add on it to you or pick another goal to conquer. Keep doing this until you’re ready to conquer NaNoWriMo or any novel writing challenge. 

  4. Stay Focused -  Eliminate distractions, write during your writing time, write with paper and pen so as not to turn on your computer, and most important, turn off your phone. Also, cover up your television with either a blanket or a slew of post-its deterring you from turning it on. And do the same for your phone. Just one more way to help you not get distracted. 

  5. Seek Support - This is the most important tip of all because as writers, we can sometimes feel or even physically isolate ourselves during the writing process. But we all need a cheerleading squad in our corner to encourage us, another pair of us to provide us feedback, and overall, just someone else who understands and is going through what we’re going through. 

Alternatives to NaNoWriMo 

Now that you know how to prepare for NaNoWriMo, let’s look at some alternatives. These alternatives are for those who are working on a novel, however, I will toss in a few at the end for those who want to write but not necessarily a novel. Here are your alternatives: 

  1. Writing 1 or 2 Novellas - A novella consists of 20,000 to 40,000 whereas NaNoWriMo originally sets your goal at 50,000. However, even with NaNoWriMo you can set your goal to any number besides 50,000, thus you can write a novella or two for NaNoWriMo. 

  2. Scribendi - (The link is for an article on the site and not the services provided. For services click here) I like the fact that this site not only provides services for Authors, but also services for Students, Academic, Businesses/Corporations, Personal services such as resume editing, and ESL services. However, we’ll just focus on the services for Authors. They offer help such as Manuscript Critique, Manuscript Editing, Manuscript Proofreading, and Query Package Creation. There’s also Manuscript Proofreading and Query Package Creation, offering you their best deal by “combining a proofread of your manuscript with a complete query package. In order to see a quote, you must enter in your documents (I do not recommend) or a word count, then below you'll see how much time it will take to completely review your manuscript. Thus a 50,000 word manuscript with a week’s time to review is estimated to cost you $1688.21. A bit pricey, so review all the services and see which one works best for you. 

  3. 750 Words Challenge - Sign up is free and you only have to write 750 words a day. Plus, there are rewards as well as consequences on this site. If you miss a day, you go on the Wall of Shame, but if you complete the month with no missed days, you go on the Wall of Amazingness. Although, you can design your own rewards and consequences if you like, yet that doesn’t guarantee you still won’t be put on the Wall of Shame. 

  4. Write Fifteen Minutes A Day Challenge or WFMAD - This is a challenge started by Laurie Halse Anderson in 2008 and it lasts for the entire month of August. The only thing you have to do is commit 15 minutes a day and you can write whatever you like. You could do writing exercises, prompts, or even develop your novel, just give yourself 15 minutes. It’s that simple.

Other Alternatives to NaNoWriMo 

Here are some alternatives for those of you who aren’t writing a novel but still want to do a writing challenge. 

  1. Write Nonfiction in November Challenge or WNFIN - Although it is a 30-Day challenge in which you can write a novel, however, you can substitute a novel for an article, an essay, a book proposal, a white paper, or a manifesto. 

  2. National Blog Posting Month Challenge or NaBloPoMo - There’s no official website that I could find so googling is your best bet. All you have to do is post a blog everyday for 30 days. And that blog doesn’t have to be written. It can also be a picture, a video, an interview or a video. 

  3. National Poem Writing Month or NaPoWriMo or PAD (Poem A Day) Challenge - This challenge actually takes place in April and all you have to do is post a poem a day. The site also has a tab where you can post your poems as well as a link to your own website. 

  4. E-Book Writing Month or EBookWriMo - Alongside NaNoWriMo, EBookWriMo challenges you to write an E-Book during the month of November but instead of 50,000 words, you only have to commit to 20,000 words. However, this site, CopyBlogger will break down your days for you, showing you what you should be during from beginning to end. 

Reference Links 

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