Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

It started out as a lark. Now I do it in part because it’s the only time of the year I have a consistent fictional writing practice and in part because of the joy I get in helping others rediscover their creative voice.

The realization that if it isn’t perfect out of the gate, that doesn’t mean it’s not a valid story or I’m a terrible writer and I should give up. It only means that I’m a human being. I’m also discovering that I’m becoming a better writer by tackling it over and over again without being attached to ‘making a living’ at it.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

The first year it was pure dogged stubbornness. Since then, the forums, the write-ins, and the knowledge that I have anywhere between a hundred and three hundred people who ‘look up’ to me as one of the examples have helped.
From a less practical standpoint, bribery with everything from chocolate to evenings off to go to a concert if I make my word count has also worked. We’re big believers in my region in the power of gold stars and dime-store toys to motivate people.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

My story concept grew out of a conversation in May, so while I’m not a huge planner, I usually write a one page précis before I start, but I’ve never been a big outliner. I believe in coming up with a god hook and following the characters where they lead me.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

Using the tools in the NaNoWriMo Hipster PDA (a derivative of the DIY Hipster PDA Creative Package; see www.diyplanner.com) helps me to keep things like eye color, hair color, and age straight. The 3x5 index cards are small enough to fit in the zipper pouch in my real planner, so they can come with me anywhere.

I also have been known to use the NaNoWriMo Report Card (see thread here:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3004635) to keep track of where I am over the month and kick myself in the pants if I get behind.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

Most of my family and friends know I check out of my social obligations during the month of November, so I tend to write in several short blocks of about fifteen to twenty minutes over the course of the day. I become very selective about what I do with my evenings, and thankfully most of my friends are very accommodating.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

You’re going to write a certain amount of dreck. This is normal, even desirable, as writing, like sculpting, requires a certain degree of source material to be available for later carving. Don’t worry about being profound, profoundness comes in the editing process.

Just remember that at the end of the day, what defines a writer is that they write, not that they talk about it and decide they’ll never be good enough to be published, so if you get your butt in the chair every day, that’s half the battle.

Strangely enough, the more you write, the better you will get, which is why it doesn’t matter if sections are dreck.

Trust in the process, trust in the story, trust in the community. But most of all, trust yourself and give yourself permission to have fun with it.

Sonja finds the camaraderie of NaNoWriMo a powerful motivator for writing, and can be found on the NaNoWriMo forums as “streetmouse”. You can read her advice for NaNoWriMo participants on her blog, White Picket Fences. For more information about Sonja, check out her website.

Why do you do NaNoWriMo? What benefits have you gotten from your participation?

My first year doing NaNoWriMo, I just wanted to see if I could write a novel. At all… in a month or in however long it took. As it turned out, I managed to win my first year, and that gave me the confidence to try to become a novelist. Now I do NaNoWriMo to keep proving to myself that I can finish novels. I don’t think novels get easier to write, I think you just have to know you’ve done it before and can do it again. I’ve finished two novels because of NaNoWriMo and gotten a confidence boost every year, knowing I can bang out a lot of words really fast.

How did you keep yourself inspired and motivated during NaNoWriMo?

I participate a lot in the forums, and especially in the chat room. I love getting egged on and I love to egg on my friends. I do a lot of word wars and a lot of complaining about novel writing being HAAAARD. The social aspects keep me going. And, I won’t lie, the competition helps too.

What sort of planning, if any, are you doing this year before you start writing?

I’ve got an outline and (shh!) the first little bit of a story done this year, so I’m ahead of the game. I always do outlines before I start writing. I am definitely NOT a seat-of-the-pants writer.

What are some of the tools you use to keep yourself organized and on-track during NaNoWriMo? How do you use them?

I love love love NaNoWriMo’s new tracking tools that let you compulsively check your wordcount and percentage and targets and all that good statistical stuff. I actually keep my own spreadsheet on non-NaNo months so I can do the same thing. It’s the competition thing again: I want to be ahead of the curve! My outline also keeps me going, especially when I sit down to write a scene. If I have an outline, at least I have some vague idea of what to write.

How do you manage your time during NaNoWriMo to make time for writing?

I write in the spare moments I can get, like lunch. I used to write for an hour every day on the bus. Sadly, I drive to work now, so that’s a no-go. I’ve been known to sneak in a few sentences at work, but I find that cutting out evening TV time is the best method for me. I sit next to my husband on the couch, pop in my headphones, and tap away while he watches his favorite shows or surfs the web.

What advice do you have for other writers doing NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Participate! Play with all the toys, use all the stuff on the website, buy the t-shirt, OWN it! The more you invest, the more you’ll get out.