Hey all! I've been getting a lot of questions and meeting a ton of people who want to know about NaNoWriMo. So I'm going to post a little introduction to the fabulous month so we can all be on track. As the days lead up to Nano I'll post some tips I've found work for me, too!
It is a month (November) where writers or people who've ever thought of writing a novel, hash out 50,000 words of a novel during the deadline. They have communities online, workshops in person and other community based tools that make the process easier, too.
How can I do it?
The website is, www.nanowrimo.org. Log on there and create a login for yourself. Personally, I suggest using your name for the username because it's easy to find friends but some people make crazy names to hide their identity.
Once you've signed up with your email, comes the customizing part to make the experience that much better.
I've signed up, now what?
Customize the crap out of your profile. You can add the book you're working on. Fix up your bio so people know a little something about you. Set your home region so you can find people near you to possibly meet up with or just talk to. Add your picture.
Also, check out the forums. They have a huge amount of people who participate so odds are you'll find someone you can connect and relate to. Join in on discussions that relate to you or make a forum for things you want answered.
The best thing about Nano is the people. They're the nicest (I may be biased) and most helpful bunch and totally willing to help out a newbie.
So now what?
Wait until November 1st and then start writing! You don't have to write on the site. You can write wherever you feel comfortable and just update the word count as you go. That's what I do. The only thing I suggest is writing on a computer because towards the end, you'll have to validate your count to win by copy and pasting your words.Why do nano?
Other than the experience, there's a ton of reasons. Nano is a sponsored event so not only do you get awesome prizes if you win but even if you only participate you can get some pretty cool stuff. I use scrivener and they have coupons for programs like it that help writers. If you win you get free copies of your book from createspace.
Offers! Click that link and you can see ALL of the offers. Trust me, there's a ton and more than enough incentive to do it.
Plus, you come out of it with a manuscript in your hands or at least, 50,000 words of your own book!
If you want, add me http://nanowrimo.org/participants/taylorlavati and I can help you or offer my advice. DO IT! Honestly, if you have the time and ideas, try it out. I had such great success when I've done it, I recommend any author try it once!
I hadn't seen all the swag for this yet, but that's so awesome! You can get a lot of stuff. I added you as a buddy. (I cannot figure that website out to save my life!)
ReplyDeleteHere's to NaNo!
Hi, I added both of you. Good luck! :)
ReplyDelete