Writing a Novel in a Month

Have you ever written a novel in a month?

November is National Novel Writing Month—a time for writers everywhere to challenge themselves and exercise their talents. During National Novel Writing Month, participating writers are encouraged to write a short novel of 50,000 words in just 30 days.

This might seem daunting to many of you. Perhaps you have only dabbled in short stories, essays, and poems. Or maybe none of your early novels have come anywhere close to 50,000 words. Don’t be discouraged. National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo, as it is called) is all about stretching yourself, expanding your horizons, and discovering that you are capable of more than you ever imagined.

The average novel is anywhere from 75,000 to 100,000 words, sometimes more. Of course, these are not just “filler” words—they are words and sentences important to the story. If you participate in National Novel Writing Month, you may find that your writing is filled with extra words as you try to reach your target word count every day. Don’t let this worry you—NaNoWriMo is all about getting a lot of words down on paper. The editing and polishing comes later.

As a young writer, you may not have the time to write 50,000 words in 30 days. After all, you have school, homework, chores, sleep, and meals to cram into your day. And during the Thanksgiving holidays, all of us will be too busy to write, since we’ll be celebrating with friends and family. If you want to participate in National Novel Writing Month, take a look at your schedule and figure out how many words you might be able write each day and multiply that number by 30 to find your total for the month. Even if you write one chapter every week, by the end of four weeks you’ll have a nice beginning for a novel.

If you aren’t sure about some of the basic elements of a novel, such as plot, characterization, description, and more, look back through the archived articles here on the Inscriptions website. You’ll find a lot of good information to help you get started.

 

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