Rachael Herron, author of A Life In Stitches, the Songbird Trilogy and nearly a dozen more novels contributed her first-hand experience with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to this piece. 

It’s that time of year again. Whether you love it or loathe it, NaNoWriMo means a flurry of writers rapidly churning out manuscripts to meet the 50,000-words in one month deadline.

On the one hand, this national challenge is a great opportunity to unite writers and reach a common (and major) milestone, even sometimes resulting in published work. On the other hand, National Novel Writing Month gets accused of encouraging garbage drafts for the sake of nothing.

Before you decide to dive in headfirst, it’s important to know who NaNoWriMo is for and who should pass.

It’s not that the challenge is good or bad. It’s more about the writer and what they are hoping to accomplish by participating.

Rachael Herron’s Story

I wrote my very first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) novel in 2006. The goal is simple: to write 50,000 words in the month of November. They don’t have to be good words or perfect sentences—they just have to be written. (Editing is for later, not for November.) Hundreds of thousands of other people attempt the same insanity, worldwide. After many edit rounds, my 2006 attempt went on to be my first published novel. (How to Knit a Love Song, Harper Collins.) Now a full-time writer, I’m starting my seventeenth book next week, so the habit has stuck.

Who NaNoWriMo Is For

There isn’t a person in the world who looks at writing 50,000 words in a month and goes, sure I have time for that. NaNoWriMo is a huge undertaking. It also tends to produce the roughest of rough drafts all in the name of a deadline. This is not a bad thing. However, this is not a result everyone wants to get from their writing.

If you have a fun and free spirit and a willingness to throw caution to the wind, then NaNoWriMo can be great.

“NaNoWriMo is for you if you desperately want to write but spend too much time editing and polishing your prose until it’s perfect (hint: it never is). It’s for you if you can’t find time to write. It’s for you if you’ve ever dreamed of writing a novel, even though you’re not a writer.” -Rachael Herron

The Tourist

If you are someone who has thought to themselves “Huh, it might be fun to try writing a book someday,” do NaNoWriMo. Test the waters and see what you think of writing a long-form story. There’s no time like the present and if you aren’t investing your career in this endeavor, participate as a fun challenge to yourself.

The Perfectionist

This may seem counterintuitive, but NaNoWriMo could be the perfect solution for perfectionists stuck in their work. The whole point of the competition is to motivate you to write without editing. Forge forward for the sake of finishing. If you are someone who can never move past writing the first few chapters of your novel because you’re always going back and correcting what you’ve already written, take November to turn things around.

Guess what, the thing you produce won’t be perfect, but you’ll do something you never thought was possible, you’ll finish a draft. Once that happens, you can put your perfectionist hat back on and dive into editing and rewrites.

The Explorer

Maybe you’ve been rolling an idea around in your head. You’ve scratched down some notes, tossed around a few plot turns, but haven’t committed anything to paper yet. NaNoWriMo can be an opportunity to quickly explore an idea. If you’re in the “maybe there’s something to this idea, maybe there’s not” phase, use the challenge and flush out the idea for a month. You may find there was more to it than you realized. Or you could come out saying, “Glad I didn’t waste more than a month on that.” Either way, time well spent.

The Wild-Hearted

You’re the opposite of the perfectionist. You thrive on spontaneity and get distracted really fast when trying to commit to a lengthy project. Use all that bottled up energy on NaNoWriMo as a way to beat troubles with focus. Unlike many others, you aren’t scared of the challenge, you are doing this to avoid distractions and commit to a project that might otherwise slip through your multi-tasking mind.

The Down-and-(almost)Out

Do you need a slump buster? Have you been struggling to start writing? Have you lost the love for your novels? Accept the challenge for the sake of pulling yourself out of the depths of despair. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, encourages writers, on her podcast Magic Lessons, to “write a bad book.” Not because bad books are better, but because she knows, sometimes, in order to get out of a funk you just have to expel the book from your system. NaNoWriMo can help you get the book out and hopefully dust off some cobwebs so that you can get back into your writing.

Who NaNoWriMo Isn’t For

Though anyone can participate in NaNoWriMo, this one-month challenge isn’t for everyone. If you just want to have fun with it, dive all in, but if you’re looking to get something specific out of the endeavor, there are some outcomes that just may not be achievable.

The Hater

Let’s just put it out there. Some people hate the idea of NaNoWriMo. They think it is a waste of time, energy and space and has no place in the world of writing. If this is you, don’t participate. Not everyone sees value in the challenge and that is fine. So step back and let those who do value it have their fun. Maybe take November to do a tech cleanse so you don’t have to see all the social media posts. #NaNoWriMo

The Researcher

If the story you’ve outlined is heavily reliant upon research, you will likely struggle through NaNoWriMo. The fact of the matter is, there’s just no time for research in this 30-day stretch. For those writing historical fiction or science-based thrillers, the urge to research is going to drastically drop your word count. And if the story doesn’t make sense without the research, then your first draft will be a pretty hollow shell of your story. It’s okay if you have a complex tale, it just may not fit into the constructs of this novel writing month.

The Careerist

Established novelists are unlikely to enjoy NaNoWriMo. If you have a writing formula down and have been successfully producing work, this challenge to complete a first draft probably won’t charge your batteries. You know the thrill of completing a first draft. You know all the parts of completing a book. This challenge might be fun if you are in a phase like “The Explorer” or “The Down-and-(almost)Out,” but if you’re comfortable in your career and your process, a crazed November may not contribute much to your overall success.

“Having done the challenge so many times now, I know who should not try this crazy online challenge: those who are getting books written, regularly and easily. If you’re doing that, my friend, you’re fine! Keep up the good work.” – Rachael Herron

The Literary-Minded

For those who believe nothing good can come from an “easy” novel, NaNoWriMo is unlikely to stoke their fire. A novel that is less focused on plot and more focused on literary value, and the perfect selection of each word, and the careful construction of eloquent prose, is unlikely to fit here. No one should be looking to extract an award-winner from their NaNoWriMo submission, though it’s not to say it’s impossible, any 50,000 words that come out of this challenge will need serious editing and attention. If you’ve already committed to a slow and steady process, don’t rush the first draft.

The Editor

These people may also be called perfectionists, but these are the people completely unable and unwilling to throw caution to the wind. If you know there is no way for you to write without being able to edit, you’ll struggle painfully through NaNoWriMo. Remember, the goal is to knock out the word count, not walk away with a market-ready product. If you can’t help but edit, the word count goal will be a struggle. Unless you are free to write full-time, you’ll be unlikely to keep with editing and writing.

At the end of the day, NaNoWriMo is there for fun. If taken too seriously, the purpose is lost. No one is watching this challenge, waiting to see a Pulitzer emerge. This is just a way to find community, free yourself from your own writing restraints and gain a check on your bucket list. If you want to do it, make a plan and join in on the fun. If you think National Novel Writing Month is useless drivel, keep writing to your own beat.

Which kind of NaNoWriMo participant are you? Share below and tell us if you’re participating this year!