Motivation logo

NaNoWriMo 2022: Results from a Successful Non-Participant

How I wrote more by writing less

By Loryne AndaweyPublished about a year ago Updated about a year ago 6 min read
1
NaNoWriMo 2022: Results from a Successful Non-Participant
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

November.

Known to writers as the National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo.

Since its inception in 1999, writers hunker down writing an average of 1,667 words a day for thirty days. Their goal: to complete a 50,000 word novel from start to finish. How many people participate in such insanity? The figures can be found in the Wikiwrimo and, while the 2021 and 2022 numbers aren’t up yet, the answer is the same: Hundreds of thousands.

I was one of those writers in 2020 when there was absolutely nothing else to do. I thought writing 1,667 words a day wasn’t daunting at all, so long as I had a plan. But even with a detailed outline it was a lot harder than I anticipated.

Despite the difficulty, I ended up meeting the word count by the end of that month. I even got a nice pat on the back for it. However, I used NaNoWriMo to write a high fantasy novel and, given how long stories in that genre can run, my manuscript wasn’t even halfway done! Two years later, it's still unfinished.

You could say I was left jaded by the experience, but the fault was my own. I’m more prone to starting things than finishing them. I can’t begin to list the unfinished books and series stashed in the dusty corners of my Google Drive or in the USBs lost somewhere in the house.

It was frustrating, but I knew I had to do something about it if I wanted to become a successful writer. I have to learn how to finish my work.

When NaNoWriMo came around this year I almost dismissed it. I had no plan to write a novel and I wasn’t interested in picking up where I left off in 2020 (great start, am I right?) However, I recently started writing short stories and found myself enjoying the format. I also discovered Canada has several literary magazines dedicated to the speculative fiction, sci-fi and fantasy genres, all of which I enjoy. That's when I learned one of them opens its submissions window every year from November 1 to November 30.

It didn’t take me very long to see what my November was going to look like. While I wasn’t going to be writing a novel from scratch, I decided that I would write a new short story and submit it to a magazine instead. I may not be participating in NaNoWriMo in the way it was designed for, but I was still dedicating the month of November to an ambitious writing project and I couldn’t wait to start.

By Jan Kahánek on Unsplash

Process

While a short story has far fewer words than a novel, it's still a challenge to write. Since my goal was to write and submit a short story to a magazine, I had to make sure that what I was submitting was of the highest quality I could create. That meant writing multiple drafts and editing ruthlessly. It required me to dedicate time to the project and stick to it. Every weekday I would wake up at 5am to work on the piece before heading to work. I woke up much later during the weekends, but the mornings were still considered "writing time".

Part of my process involves handwriting the outline and the first draft of my stories. This forces me to slow down and consider my words and structure. Because of this, I wrote three false starts before I could comfortably write the first draft. To measure my progress I used Neil Gaiman’s tip and alternated each day with different coloured inks. As a result, my daily word count was much less than the NaNoWriMo average, around 300 words instead of 1,667.

It took me eight days to finish the first draft, which included the outline and false starts. The second and subsequent drafts were then typed up and took twice as long. This was because whenever I type, I self-edit, adding and subtracting words and scenes as I saw fit. By the time I wrangled the typed draft into submission the story looked quite different from the outline I started with.

During this process I learned that I would need to provide a cover letter to accompany my short story submission. Since I didn't know how to write one, I started looking for help. YouTube and Meetup came in clutch. Through YouTube I stumbled upon Shaelin Bishop’s channel where she talks about how to write short stories and how to navigate the submissions process. I used her example for my cover letter, which she reads between the 10:45-11:10 mark in this video.

Meetup connected me with a group of Sci-fi and Fantasy writers within the Toronto area. My first meeting with them was about query letters, which are basically cover letters for novels. I then learned that the group hosts weekly meetings where members read their work and receive feedback. All of a sudden, I had beta readers who would help me edit my work.

I also provided my SO with a copy of the story. He is an English teacher so he was the best person I could go to for all my grammar faults (if you see any mistakes in this article, it’s because he didn't read it.) With everyone’s support and constructive criticism, I was able to prepare a final draft.

When I finally hit SEND, it was November 29 at 11:11pm.

By Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Total Word Count

The final draft of the short story came to 3,645 words. There was more to it than that, of course, but not by much.

The entire process, (outlines, edits, drafts and final draft), came to 7,280 words (I didn’t count the words in the final draft because I was mainly pruning at that point.) An actual NaNoWriMo participant would have crossed that threshold on the 5th day. While that may not be a lot, it gave me time to create other work.

During the editing process I submitted to several Challenges hosted by Vocal Media. I submitted two haikus to the High-Ku Challenge. Veneration was 13 words long while A Plea to Chomolungma was 81 words long due to the captions I wrote beneath the images I inserted.

I also was able to write two short stories. The first one was titled Dreaming in a Sea of Colour, which was submitted to the Aquarium Challenge. The second was titled Unboxing, which was submitted to the Mystery Box Challenge. Their word counts are 1,306 and 1,619, respectively.

In total, I wrote 10,297 words in November. That’s just over 1/5th of the NaNoWriMo word count, which would have been surpassed on the 7th day of the challenge if I was writing the average 1,667 words per day. It’s not much, but it provided me with something I didn't feel after my first NaNoWriMo project:

An actual sense of accomplishment.

Pending review. The magazine is based in Alberta, which is 2 hours behind Toronto, hence why it says it was sumbitted at 9:11pm.

Final Thoughts

My short story is still pending on the magazine’s website, but seeing it submitted makes me feel incredibly proud. I started the month determined to finish what I started. One short story. I ended up writing three short stories, two poems and submitting all works for consideration. I was also able to find a small community of writers who helped me improve my craft. By focusing on word choice instead of word count, I was able to create more and receive more than I would have had I fully participated in NaNoWriMo.

That’s not to say NaNoWriMo doesn’t have any value. Many novels got their start through that challenge. Notable works include The Night Circus from Erin Morgenstern, Water for the Elephants by Sarah Gruen and Wool by Hugh Howey. Goodreads has a list of 33 such novels and counting.

Perhaps I will write a novel using NaNoWriMo when it comes again next year. However, the short story format has me in its grip and, after my submissions, that grip got even tighter. There are so many stories I want to write and I need the time to write them. More importantly, I’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to actually finish something. I’m not about to risk giving that up any time soon.

Thank you for lingering.

Sincerely,

Loryne Andawey

goalssuccess
1

About the Creator

Loryne Andawey

Health, Happiness & Abundance.

Currently enjoying the company of Francis, Mike, C.H., Gammastack, Michelle, Cosimo, Kristen, Bronson, Bella, Talia, Sean, Babs, Kelli, Rick, Dharrsheena, Heather, Gina and many, many more!

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.