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Five Ways NaNoWriMo Turned Me into a Writer at Fifty-One
No matter your age, NaNoWriMo has something to offer for you. For participant, Dorothy Wong, Camp NaNoWriMo gave her the chance to finish a novel! Read below to learn about her experience and what she gained during her writing journey.
The year I turned forty, I took a twelve month leave from my job.
With no work commitments, I thought I would finally write my novel.
While I ended up with a blog full of chatty travel posts and fantastic
memories, I didn’t write my book, not even a rough outline. Anytime I
tried, I found myself distracted and overwhelmed. If I couldn’t write
during that sabbatical year, I told myself, I was never going to write
anything. And for almost a decade, I didn’t.
Then a friend posted
on Facebook that she was attempting a month-long writing challenge called
NaNoWriMo. My first thought was, “Why would anyone voluntarily sign up
for that?”. I couldn’t imagine putting myself under that time pressure to produce an actual novel.
Turns out,
NaNoWriMo was exactly what I needed to break through my self-imposed
barriers to writing. During Camp NaNoWriMo April 2021 I went from never
writing at all to writing an average of 1500 words per day and creating a
flawed, but completed, 50,000 word manuscript. I was ecstatic. Not only
did I finish a novel, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.
Here are the top five ways NaNoWriMo turned me into an enthusiastic writer at fifty-one:
1. Community:
There’s nothing quite like being part of a group effort, where everyone
is cheering you on to complete your 50,000 words. NaNoWriMo is
dedicated to creating safe and diverse spaces, including providing
online and in-person opportunities to meet fellow writers. As an older
writer, I worried about keeping up when the participant age range skewed
much younger. To my relief I found a community through the BIPOC online
meet-ups that connected me to others like me, many with established
careers and extensive life experience, who wanted to write. Finding a
community of writers will give you the support you didn’t know you
needed.
2. Timed Sprints: During my first online writing
sprint, to my absolute shock, I churned out 600 words in 15 minutes.
Being in the company of others who are all doing the same thing (known
as “body doubling”) really worked for my brain. Scientific studies show
that doing a task in tandem with others increases productivity. If
you’ve never tried timed writing sprints, they can be a game-changer.
3. Word Count Tracker: NaNoWriMo’s online word count tracker sent an instant dopamine hit to my brain every time I updated my progress.
4. Word Count Goal:
While writing an entire novel can be daunting, reaching 50,000 words
felt doable. Broken down to 1500 a day, I worked in short bursts
throughout the day, finding time around my job and caring for my family,
to get that word count in. When I reached my goal each day, I felt
incredibly motivated to keep going. Even if I didn’t reach the goal,
getting some words down every day kept my inspiration burning.
5. Limits are Freeing:
NaNoWriMo’s time-bounded word count freed me from the
“what if it’s not any good” voice in my head. If I wanted to write, I
had to sit down and write, no excuses, and I had to keep moving the
story forward, as there was no time to go back and edit. By accepting
that I would be writing a crappy first draft, I gave up perfection and
embraced the challenge.
NaNoWriMo made me finally believe that I
could write a novel. If you’ve spent a lifetime trying to get started
on your novel, I encourage you to give NaNoWriMo a try!
Dorothy
Wong lives with her family on beautiful Vancouver Island, British
Columbia, Canada where she works as a lawyer by day and writes mysteries
by night. She joined NaNoWriMo in 2021 and has been happily writing
ever since.
Interested in the writing events Dorothy talked about? Feel free to check out our upcoming events for Writers of Color Virtual Meetups or Virtual Write-Ins! Writers of Color are also invited to check out the forum group.