A truly inspirational post about NaNoWriMo and writing in general. I’m going for NaNo again. My first one was in 2007 and I won. I signed up for 2008 and got broadsided by a day job that just demanded too much. In 2012, I completed the November challenge and then the NaNoWriMo camps in April and July of this year, each time signing up for 50K even though I didn’t have to do 50K. And here I go again. My husband asks, “Why?” and I say, “Because NaNo is the only time when I really focus on my writing.” It does that for me. Gives me permission to push everything else aside and write.
Yesterday Jami posted about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and I really hope you guys take her class because she is truly a gifted teacher. Today, I want to talk a little bit about what writers (especially new writers) can gain from NaNo.
NaNo Teaches Endurance
I remember years ago thinking, “Wow, if I could just write a thousand words a day, that would be AMAZING.” When I looked at professional authors, it was like watching a marathon runner—all the while knowing I couldn’t run a flight of stairs without requiring oxygen and possibly a defibrillator to restart my heart. I so struggled to get words on a page, and Lord help me if I saw something shiny.
Of course, after years of practiced discipline, I generally have a thousand words written by breakfast. When I fast-draft (which I do for all my books), my average is abnormally…
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Marie at 1 Write Way 
6 responses to “NaNoWriMo—Training Lean, Mean, Writing Machines”
This was a great post. Thanks for sharing, Marie! :)
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My pleasure!
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God, I…just…don’t…get…it! Life’s too… (fill in the blank –) ;)
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Ha ha ha! But it’s only one month a year, if you don’t include the “camps.” And the camps don’t have a 50k challenge; you set your own goals which can include editing. Call me crazy. I’ve been called worse ;)
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Okay…You’re crazy! But the truth is I admire you for doing this. I know I couldn’t pull it off!
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Oh, you’re so sweet to admire my craziness ;)
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