Weekly Wattpad Contests

What is a Na-No-Wri-Mo?

What is a Na-No-Wri-Mo?

A lot of us should be familiar with the phenomenon, at least vaguely. I was shocked when I learned that one of my judges, , hasn't ever heard of this before.

So, for those of you like Lyss, here is a basic rundown of what it is and what to expect from Contests for the month of November;

National Novel Writing Month, or NanoWriMo, is a ancient ritual challenge in which authors, in order to battle writing block and foster creativity explosions, write 50 000 for a novel in the 30 days of November.

NaNoWriMo.org is a website for a "non-profit organization that provides tools, structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds — on and off the page."

I certainly encourage everybody to take a look at it.

There has been some consideration for how our Weekly Contests can encourage our community to achieve this goal, but the platforms aren't necessarily as conducive to this as we might like. We're also still just barely recovering from the MHoH project we ran in October, so running another massive project is out of the question.

As such, we're running the NaNoWriMo alongside our regular programming, so you can still participate in the Weekly Contests while learning about healthy NaNoWriMo writing practices.

For this first week, we're taking a look at getting started on your passion project;

Getting Into NaNoWriMo

Important things to note before beginning

NaNoWriMo's goal isn't to push out a bestseller – it's to push out 50 000 words. You don't have much time to plot an intricate story, or plan all your characters. You're going to face dead ends, or run out of story, or find useless characters or irrelevant plots. That's okay. The fun comes in the creative ways we'll overcome these limits when we reach them.

Writing is a healthy practice - it's very important to practice healthy writing habits when we dedicate ourselves to such a large endeavour. Be sure to do some research, as well as follow along to our advice, and do so only if you enjoy the experience. There is no sense in torturing yourself. When you feel like writing is a chore, you should consider why and how you can overcome that. Our Discord community is a wonderful place to reach out to other authors for encouragement and assistance.

You must accept that you're not going to produce the perfect piece. A beautiful thing about this event is that we don't have the time to linger on our mistakes or regret the choices we made. We have to accept those flaws for what they are and move forward in our endeavours. At the very best, I've never heard of a finalised novel being produced in this month, only a pre-alpha draft, if even that.

This is an opportunity to not take writing so exceptionally seriously. It's the perfect time to get experimental, try new things, practice interesting ideas, and get a feel for them while you rocket along in your endeavour.

Writing is the main point – when words don't come, any words will do. Be prepared to move past that phase where you stare at the blinking cursor on your screen. There was a jar of strawberry jam and bottle of chocolate syrup set on the counter. It's okay to write things even if they don't particularly make sense, as long as words are constantly appearing.

Getting Started

Instead of giving you all the answers for this first week, I'll first ask you some questions that you should think about for a little while. Be sure to post your answers as inline comments for others to consider too!

Is topic important? How far do I need to plan my story? Could I revive an old story that died long ago? Fanfictions? What are the limitations I might expect if I don't plan enough, or too much?

What are some healthy writing habits I know that I could practice? When am I most productive? How much time could I dedicate to writing each day?

What are some ideas I'd be excited to try? What am I most looking forward to from this experience?

Considering these would really give you an idea about what you'll want from this project, and how you might approach it. I'll give you some of my personal considerations too:

I think the topic doesn't really matter at all. I've had so many ideas floating around my brain for the longest time, that I'm just excited to finally get them onto paper without worrying about all the usual stuff. I've already accepted that none of them would make sense, and I think there will be a particular beauty in all those stories moulded together in one.

I most look forward to writing as an improve-author. I'd like to discuss my ideas with my friends, and I'd try my very best to incorporate all their suggestions or silly ideas into it too. They want that ship to happen, then yes, that is totally happening (Lucivex). That Victorian woman finds a ray gun? Sure! I think it'll be a fun experience.

One of my biggest struggles will be to find a dedicated time for this, but I'm sure after the first week I'll have developed a routine. My struggle after that will be sticking to it.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts for this side-along to our contests. I'm very excited to begin, and, I'd totally recommend to check out our weekly prompts and feedback if you're looking for a little extra spice!

Have at it!

Signed, TimberWoolf.