What is the Point of NaNoWriMo?

By Grace Caylor

If you have been around in the writing world long enough, you’ve likely heard of that well-loved, worldwide writing event NaNoWriMo. It’s that time of year to write your very own novel, joining hundreds of thousands of writers around the world in November. It’s the most famous month of the year amongst amateur novelists. Maybe, like me, some of your non-writer friends have even given a shot at typing away 50,000 words in one month to create a tale no one’s ever read before.

NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month,” and if ever there was a month to write a novel as fast as you can, this is it. “Come join us!” may be the cry you hear from other writers. “You can do it!”

But, you may ask yourself: Why? What’s the point?

Why join the crowd of writers other than the feeling of peer pressure or the fear of missing out (FOMO)? Why can’t I just write something on my own time with a more relaxed schedule?

Well, let me encourage you, NaNoWriMo is a great way to make progress as a writer in new ways, but it’s not for everyone. To know if NaNoWriMo is right for you, check out this article. 

I don’t want you to do NaNoWriMo just because people say you should, or even because I say you should. You have to know for yourself why NaNoWriMo is inherently just plain awesome.

So, if you want to know why you should undertake this valiant endeavor alongside other prolific writers across the globe--regardless of what other people around you think--I will embark on a journey to tell you.

1. NaNoWriMo Will Jumpstart Your Writing Career

 NaNoWriMo prompted me to begin my first novel at the age of 12. The solidarity of other writers around the globe giving their best shot at writing several thousand words in a month highly encouraged and motivated me.

Without NaNoWriMo, I would have never started writing that early, or even at all. Because I chose to try out NaNoWriMo, I soon realized that I could write a novel, and that realization is what inspired me to continue writing even after the 30 days were up.

I’m not the only one whose writing roots were founded in NaNoWriMo. Bestselling authors like Sara Gruen, Erin Morgenstern, Rainbow Rowell, Hughe Howey, and Marissa Meyer also began their writing careers with an exhilarating goal of writing 50,000 words in the month of November. NaNoWriMo is your chance to motivate yourself and set your creativity in motion.

Even if you don’t finish a novel in one month, NaNoWriMo still encouraged you to start something. And that little bit of something can be the match to start the flame, which will light the fire in your heart to continue writing stories for the rest of your life.

2. NaNoWriMo Keeps You Motivated

Without a specific time frame and specific goal to write, I often find myself not writing at all. NaNoWriMo establishes a whole month for you to write 50,000 words, which provides for you an incentive to pick up your pen and just do it. You get a feeling of accomplishment in completing a certain number of words in a month. 

You need goals to get things done in life. As PositivePyschology.com says, “Setting goals helps trigger new behaviors, helps guide your focus and helps you sustain that momentum in life.” Thus, goal-setting is important in keeping you on task to accomplish great things. Rather than setting a feeble New Year’s resolution to write a novel, NaNoWriMo provides a specific time frame and goal that motivates you to keep going. 

Thus, unlike a relaxed, flexible approach to writing a novel, NaNoWriMo with its time frame and goal gives you strong motivation to hash out every last word. 

3. You’ll Be a Part of the NaNoWriMo Community 

As mentioned above, NaNoWriMo provides a sort of solidarity that motivates you to keep writing. When you are a part of the world-wide NaNoWriMo Community, you feel like you are a part of something bigger; a mission. Seeing writers around the world working hard and crushing the same goal that you have, you can’t help but step up your game and write faster. As writers, some of us may be prone to introversion, but in reality, we all need people. 

Research shows that even giving a person subtle hints that he or she is working alongside others motivates the person to work more prolifically. Stanford psychological scientists Priyanka B. Carr and Gregory M. Walton told participants in some experiments that they were in a study to investigate how people “worked together.” These participants performed much better and faster on a puzzle than participants not given any cues about working with other people. 

Hence, working together with others gives you a sense that your task is meaningful and purposeful, which drives you to do incredible things.

If you have any amount of competitiveness in you at all, you won’t want to just give up when there are so many others around you pushing towards and achieving their goals. Even if you aren’t competitive, being surrounded by like-minded people writing a novel in a month is simply encouraging and motivating.

NaNoWriMo gives you that community and accountability to keep you on track. They also provide inspirational leaders who give pep talks. If you are a writer under 18 years old, you can join the Young Writers program, which is what I did at the age of 12. This program provides youth-friendly communities to engage in.

If you are 18 or older, you can sign up for NaNoWriMo here, which gives you access to an adult writing community. In this community, you can even create your own writing group, called a Camp, with other writers you know or share common areas of interest with. 

Other writers spurring you on in your writing journey is definitely a bonus to NaNoWriMo. Just the mere fact of other writers trying alongside you is motivating, even if they don’t say a thing.

Imagine the feeling of accomplishment… (Pexels.com)

All in all, NaNoWriMo is a time of trial and error, pains and joys, community and encouragement, and overall just outright fun. If you have not gotten serious about writing yet, this is your moment to jumpstart your writing career.

Whether you have started writing seriously or not, NaNoWriMo with its goal and time frame is a perfect opportunity to motivate yourself to write that story which no one has written before. And if you are worried about feeling alone, NaNoWriMo provides you with a community to boost your courage and confidence to get the job done.

Now that I have convinced you that NaNoWriMo is totally awesome, I want to encourage you to pick up a pen and start reflecting on that topic you’ve been aching to write about. What is on your heart? What inspires you? What do you want to share with the world? October is the time to prepare to join in the band of writers this coming month to write up that story that’s been dangling in the back of your mind. 

Start brainstorming. Your pen is a mighty weapon that breaks down what you know, which inspires more ideas to build off of that. Soon enough, you will have a novel idea (literally) that will propel you through the month, till you have written hundreds, then thousands of original words.

So, what are you waiting for? If you have any time and creativity on your hands, NaNoWriMo is a month you won’t want to miss.

If you have never done NaNoWriMo, I’d love to hear from you: what is holding you back?

 If you have done NaNoWriMo, what reasons should your fellow writers jump in and go for it?