Writing Blog Number 2 (continued)

20251103 NaNoWriMo Advantages

How Did NaNoWriMo Help Writers

For those unaware, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has ended. It was an online challenge to write a complete work of 50,000+ words in the month of November.

While the organisation itself had issues, the concept was a good one. And you can really challenge yourself – in 2025 I managed to churn out around 162,800 words in the month. So it is good to see that WdC is carrying on the idea; where I live, we left NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago because of the way we felt we were treated and yet we are also doing it again on our own this year.

So why is it so good? Here’s a list of reasons:

It is a good excuse to actually start writing
So many people say they “want to write a book” but always manage to find excuses not to. Doing that first book as a challenge is a way to get started writing without pressure. What you get from winning is a feeling of satisfaction, and if you don’t succeed, at least you’ve started something, so it is not a waste of time. To get that kick-start, it is a non-confrontational way of going about it.

There is a sense of accountability
This leads directly onto the idea of accountability. If you have a goal pre-set for you, then you are accountable for achieving that goal. It becomes even more accountable when you tell everyone you know this is what you are doing in November, and if you are a member of a group doing it (like NaNoWriMo), then there are a bunch of other writers keeping you accountable. It is harder to give it up when others are there encouraging you.
         Further, there is personal accountability. This is a personal challenge. If you cheat by plagiarising or using AI to write your work, then you are only cheating yourself. Sure, you might feel good about “completing” the work, but if you had to cheat to do it, have you really completed the challenge? No, of course not. But, in the end, you are only cheating yourself and if you can live with that, then, well, good on ya. Congratulations. I guess your next task is going to be stealing candy from a baby.

It develops a personal writing community
Again, this leads to the next point – community. Writing is a very lonely pursuit. Very few writers are collaborative, and most don’t have people they can talk to about the problems that arise. The idea of NaNoWriMo put that sense of community into writing, so writers could ask one another questions, bounce ideas from each other, and that encouragement mentioned previously was there. Yes, it is also something about a site like WdC, but this was for a wider writing community.

It is a good start to develop positive writing habits
Many professional writers will say that it is a good habit to get into writing every day, or to treat writing as a job and write five or six days a week. For me, it’s every day, at least 250 words of personal (non-job-related) writing. But for those who are not used to writing longer works or writing something to completion, NaNoWriMo gets you into the every day writing habit, which you need to do in order to complete it.

It makes you feel like you are an actual writer
This all leads to this next point: if you manage to complete the 50k word work – even if it takes you until the middle of December, say – then you have done something very, very few people have done. So many say they are going to write a book and never do; well, you now have. There is something about this that says, “I am an actual writer!”

There is no pressure
And the final point is that there is no real pressure. The only pressure, such as it is, comes internally. You put the pressure on yourself to complete the novel. But there is no publisher, editor or agent waiting for the work; there is no real audience clamouring for the work; it has not cost you money, just time. If you don’t complete the book, shame, but no pressure. If you don’t complete the book for 2 years, does it matter? You still completed the book! All pressure is internal.

That’s the benefits I see of writing to the NaNoWriMo dictates. While the organisation may have fallen – and the reasons are many, involving child writers and forum mods, treatment of international groups and writers, supporting AI use, etc – the concept that started it is still as strong today as it ever was. I see it as beneficial, especially for beginner writers of the long form, or for more experienced writers who want a challenge or to break out of a writing doldrums.
         And we encourage it here at WdC. So why not give it a go!