The Power of Nanowrimo + Survey! by Beth Barany
Updated: August 1, 2023
IN THIS ARTICLE
— On the power of Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) and a Survey for you! Jump here to take the survey right away.
** What good things come to you when you actually write? **
Welcome new subscribers from the Writer’s Fun Zone blog! And welcome longtime blog and newsletter readers. I so appreciate all of you.
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In today’s current economy, I sometimes feel like a thing, you know, a commodity, to be pushed around, quantified, as if I have no heart.
But I am not a commodity. Neither are you. I’m an invaluable multi-layered complex human being, like you are.
And like you, I create a product for public consumption (genre novels), that I price and market and promote, and edit to be appealing to my readers.
Our books have several purposes: to create an experience that attracts the reader, keeps them in the story, and takes them away from their every day life. So pleasure and escape.
Even though I create a product, I am not a product, or a machine.
It can feel as if we’re expected to be a machine though, in this process to write a novel.
Yet there is no straight line to a finished book.
It’s complicated, creating a book that readers will love and consume.
And extremely creative.
What’s my point?
My point is … that it’s complicated.
But all is not lost. We can find a way through the mess.
Even though there isn’t a direct line from start to finish — there’s always lots of bumps in the road, detours, getting lost (there’s more to this metaphor!) — you can break down writing a book into its smallest steps and get writing (or editing or marketing) done.
I know this because I have done it 16 times. (I’ve written 16 stories, get it?)
The Power of Nanowrimo
This is one of the reasons I like Nanowrimo so much. They encourage you to think in daily word counts, one day at a time.
Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month, where people aim to write 50,000 words in the month of November. A free non-profit guides you every step of the way.
That’s 1,666.67 words a day, or about 6.5 manuscript pages, measured at 250 words per page.
That’s still a lot of words, AND, you don’t have to write that much.
Because you can be a Nano rebel!
I know I will be this year, and have always been a Nano rebel. (I gotta be me!)
Even with my experience, I can comfortably usually write 40,000 words in a month. Any more than that and I need to be not doing anything else to make it happen. But that’s me. Your experience may be different! But you won’t know until you try it, I mean, do it.
My husband, Ezra Barany, also a novelist and co-teacher at Barany School of Fiction, has met and exceeded the 50,000-word count in the five-plus past years, and that’s worked for him. This year he’s a rebel too. He’s writing 50K, but adding it to an existing story.
We each rebel in our way!
As I mentioned above, I’m a Nano rebel again this year and won’t even be writing a novel.
Instead I’ll be editing one of the novels I wrote a few years ago. (In November 2016 through June 2017, I wrote four novels, three of which I’ve published in the last 18 months (the Janey McCallister Mystery series, space station mysteries).
We have students and clients who are editing and planning. Nano rebels rock!
There’s power in doing it your way. There is only one you. So shine!
If you’re looking for a reason to dive into your book, or you just want to use this global focused program to work on your book in some manner, I encourage you to take advantage of Nanowrimo’s energy this month.
If you’re looking for events in your community where people get together and do “write-ins,” check out the Nanowrimo site: https://nanowrimo.org/.
Want more Nano tips? Check out these articles on our blog, Writer’s Fun Zone.
LISTEN TO THIS ON AUDIO (Based on the 2017 version of this article. And updated in 2023.)
Coming soon!
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Coming Next — for Dedicated Novelists!
Coming soon, I’ll be offering some sign up bonuses to the Group Coaching Program if you sign up for this program before the end of the year.
One of the bonuses will be a 1-1 coaching session and first-chapter-review with me.
The Group Coaching Program is a 12-month program for dedicated novelists who have already written a manuscript or equivalent who want ongoing group support (2 group calls monthly that come with spot coaching and analysis of your manuscript) and additional opportunities for in-depth 1-1 support with me, including developmental editing. More news about that soon.
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SURVEY! (Last but not least!)
We’re always growing here at Barany School of Fiction, and Writer’s Fun Zone, and I’d like to get to know you better. To that end, I’d love it if you could fill out a short survey for me here.
Or copy and past this link: https://goo.gl/forms/YKIkQ4bnd8IdKLpo1.
A little gift awaits you on the thank you page. 🙂
Here’s to your creativity! Happy writing!
♥
All my best,
Beth
PS. Survey link again: https://goo.gl/forms/YKIkQ4bnd8IdKLpo1.
PPS. You have the power! What will you do with it? I’m genuinely curious. Post in the comments your reply or email me directly.
ABOUT BETH BARANY
Creativity Coach for Writers, NLP Master Practitioner, and Master Teacher, Beth Barany has been there and knows how hard it can be to take your idea and turn it into a real book, that people will actually be interested, and even yearning, to read.
She walks the talk, as her clients like to say. She is the author of the 2012 award-winning young adult fantasy novel Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, (the first book on the Henrietta The Dragon Slayer series) and of the award-winning sci-fi mystery, Into The Black, the first in the Janey McCallister Mystery series, as well as the author of the bestselling nonfiction books for authors and aspiring authors.
Ready to finish your book but not sure how?
Hire Beth to help you or take a class at Barany School of Fiction. Or join her Group Coaching Program.
Still have questions? Email Beth.
