Things I learned from NaNoWriMo #7 (#nanowrimo)

#7 Try to finish the book, not just the contest.

I failed miserably at this last year and am still kicking myself. November is this crazy creative storm where you have lots of inspiration, support and inspiration. You’d be stupid to not take advantage of that spirit and get the entire book done. Forget about your 49,999th and 50,000th words being The and End, just work on getting your story done no matter what.

This is another reason to get ahead early. If you realize right away that you are writing a 75,000 word novel, you can pace yourself accordingly.

Writing 50,000 words of your 100,000 word novel is a great start, but finishing the novel is much better. Take advantage of the frenzy of writing to get the whole project done, not just part of it. You’ll thank me later, trust me. This is from someone who wrote my first 60,000 words in November and took the entire rest of the year to write another 20,000 words. You will never be more productive than you’ll be during NaNo so don’t let that opportunity pass you by.