#60 NaNoWriMo December

After NaNoWriMo is over it's time to set your novel aside for a few weeks and catch up on sleep. This month gives you time to recover from the late nights writing. Additionally, the time off gives you space to see your novel with fresh eyes so you can edit it in January (if you so choose). Either way, decompressing from NaNoWriMo is an important step, and the last step in the process of participating in NaNoWriMo.

#59 NaNoWriMo Thank God It's Over Party

CONGRATS NANO NOVELISTS! You've survived another November!

#58 NaNoWriMo Week Four

Week Four brings victory. You have done what few dare to attempt- you have written an entire novel! By the end of this week, you are officially a novelist.

#57 NaNoWriMo Week Three

By Week Three you've generally got a writing schedule down, and putting down the necessary 1,667 words a day feels comfortable. You're over the grueling halfway point of week 2 and well on your way to winning. The only thing between you and a finished novel is keeping up the momentum you've already got by working hard.

#56 NaNoWriMo Week Two

In week two, the reality of the situation sets in. You look at your novel and realize just how far away the finish line is, and how many other things you need to put off in your life for a full month to be able to finish. To make matters worse, your ideas start to dry up. Why did you think you could do this?

The 20,000-30,000 word period is, I feel, the hardest part of NaNoWriMo. The trick is to just get through it as fast as you can, since if you can get through week two you can get through ANYTHING else NaNoWriMo can throw at you. This is the week where perseverance matters the most; in week 3 things always gets better.

#55 NaNoWriMo Week One

The first week is exhilarating. Your progress is smooth and constant, and the words come easily. You know where you want this novel to go, and every day you get a little closer. It's about being inspired, and putting as many words on the page as you can in a first burst of energy.

#54 NaNoWriMo October

Although October isn't an official part of NaNoWriMo it is still a critical time in the life of your novel. This is when you dream, you make the decision to try NaNoWriMo, and your unconscious brews up the ideas and reserve you'll draw on next month. Without this incubation and commitment period your novel would never come to life.

#53 NaNoWriMo Intro

Introduction page. This is the elevator pitch version of 'what is NaNoWriMo and why you should go sign up right now.' Did I mention you can get more information and sign up at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ? I did? Good, now you have no excuse not to check it out. (Well, maybe you do have an excuse; you should probably try NaNoWriMo anyways, though, since excuses will be the death of any creative endeavor. Go ahead, forget them and try something crazy anyways.)

#52 NaNoWriMo Cover

National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) happens every November. It's a challenge to write 50,000 words- the equivalent of a short full novel- in a month.

I have personally participated in NaNoWriMo for about five years or so and won/reached 50,000 words three times (if memory serves). I wanted to introduce NaNoWriMo to more people, so I created a comic about what it's like to participate in NaNoWriMo. Each page covers what one week is like, and each page will be posted on the Friday of the week it represents.

I would recommend that everyone try NaNoWriMo at least once. Even if you don't cross the 50,000 word finish line you will STILL likely write more and get farther in telling your stories than you ever have before. If you do finish, then congratulations, you're a novelist! You can wow your friends and colleagues with your new-found title and, who knows, maybe even clean up that rough first draft into something beautiful and get published. It's worth it for the experience alone, and that goes double if you manage to stick to your writing and complete the challenge.

You can get more information about NaNoWriMo or sign up here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ I hope to see some of you in the writing trenches!