back in July 2019, i participated in my first every camp NaNoWriMo which was amazing, i set myself a goal of 50,000 words on my project which i was able to hit on day 25 in this post i am going to give you 10 tips on how to survive camp NaNoWriMo and win, all of which i did.
1. Pace yourself
while it may sound like a good idea to sit down and write for five hours each day you will drain yourself a lot faster, work out what you are working towards and then work out what the minimum you have to do each day to win nano. my goal was 50k words so the minimum i had to write was 1612.90 words a day (July has 31 camp days) some days you are going to be over that and other under but if you know that you have to write or spend a certain amount of time each day then the days you go over makes up for the days you are under and you won't be draining yourself
2. Set goals
while whatever number you set up on camp is your overall goal think of your weekly goals, my first week of Julys 2019 camp i set a goal of 10k words which i had already passed on day 6. if you know you have a goal and a deadline to get to that goal you are more likely to pass the goal, while the end goal is to win camp seeing that with the days ticking by you don't think about how close you really are so you are more likely to quit.
3. Outline
while i myself am more of a pantser like the famous author Stephen King, i did do a brief outline of my project, and when i mean this i mean i wrote the chapter numbers down and under each chapter wrote what i hoped would happen, as one of mine for chapter 4 was find out Clyde is a wolf, it left it to my imagination on everything with just knowing hey i need to find a way to write Clyde as a wolf, this was the first time i ever did any kind of outline.
4. Get inspired
there are many ways to do this, you could go for a walk, listen to music, go and be with nature it really depends on you. i personally search up on google "writing prompts" and look at pictures or follow links and find one best fitted for my novel i am writing. i find this really helpful and i immediately find inspiration
5. Leave it unfinished
when you know you are going to be finishing writing, for the time being, if it is for a few hours or for the day that doesn't matter, the best thing to do so you don't come back and go well what to do now start the next sentence and don't finish it. for me, i finished writing for the day and knew i wouldn't know where to start again so i finished off with 'i walked into the kitchen and saw' while you wouldn't want to finish a chapter, paragraph or bookending like that it just means you can come back and it will be super easy to get back into it, meaning fewer writers block moments.
6. Sprint
for this, all you need to do is search up NaNoWordSprints on twitter and wait for the people to come on, or you can set your own timer up on your laptop or phone. a word sprint is when you have a timer for a certain amount of time and you just flat out write, then you take a break when you are done before going straight back into it.
7. Accept That Your Manuscript Will Not Be Perfect
dont try and make it perfect, that will only help you not make your word goal, realize that no matter what there is going to be major editing involved so there is no point in worrying about it all being perfect now when that is the least of your concerns, the faster you realize that the more easier it will for the words to flow.
dont try and make it perfect, that will only help you not make your word goal, realize that no matter what there is going to be major editing involved so there is no point in worrying about it all being perfect now when that is the least of your concerns, the faster you realize that the more easier it will for the words to flow.
8. Network
sometimes having friends who are also writers help they know the struggle and can help you keep going even on tough days, there is nothing like not knowing what to do or not having anyone there who understand what you are going through.
9. Environment
no matter if you like a clean desk or a messy one, work where you know you work best, for me i work best in my best with my curtain open. coffee beside me and my laptop on my black pillow on my lap. that is how i write best so make sure you have the space you will be writing in looking just the way you like it.
10. Write
sometimes the best thing to do is just write, even if it is never going to make it into the final copy of your project, every word counts when you start writing the words should just start to flow meaning while it most likely won't make sense it still counts towards your word goal and you may make something that you can use for your book
