I’ve harped on this before: If getting traditionally published were easy, anyone could do it. You’re still an aspiring novelist, and I’d LOVE to see you fulfill your dream. Your novel may not even be finished (an average novel is closer to 64,000 words).īut beyond that, the work has just begun.įinishing your fiction manuscript doesn’t make you a novelist.
Whatever you decide, remember that this is only the first stage. Push through the Marathon of the Middle.Feel more confident about sharing your work.I urge you to see the result as only that for now. The danger: You assume your work is done.īottom line: I applaud NaNoWriMo for what it’s meant to so many writers who need a deadline to finally finish novel manuscripts. The benefit: You knock out a first draft. My caution is to not make more of the result than it deserves. If you believe it would work for you, motivate you, get you to finally get going on your novel, I say go for it. NaNoWriMo serves to prove to you that you can both start and finish a novel of at least 50,000 words. Their aim, and it’s a worthy one, is to encourage. It appears to me their goal is not to see you finish a pristine manuscript ready for the marketplace. So, far be it from me to criticize a well-intentioned program like NaNoWriMo. That’s the sole purpose of this blog and The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild.
#30 day writing challenge 2020 download#
Need help writing your novel? Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide.Īs a writing coach, my goal is to help get your work to where it’s marketable to traditional publishers. While not every year would have represented more than 400,000 writers, surely the total is in the millions. In fact, if every success story had happened last year alone-in other words, had all 250 published novels come from only the 431,626 NaNoWriMo manuscripts completed last year-your chances of ultimate success would be 1 in more than 1,725.īut those 250 traditionally published novels have come from all the NaNoWriMo manuscripts written since 1999. What are the odds your NaNoWriMo 2020 manuscript will be traditionally published? Without knowing the total number of novels written since the effort began (this is its 17th year), it’s impossible to say.īut one thing I can say for certain: The odds are way worse than 1 in 1,000. That’s why I teach writing and publishing-so you can improve your odds. While the figure may be unscientific, it’s not hyperbole. Until you do the math.Ī rule of thumb in book publishing is that an unsolicited manuscript has about a 1 in 1,000 chance of landing a traditional book deal. That means the authors were paid to be published rather than paying to be printed. NaNoWriMo reports that over the years, 250 of its participants have seen their manuscripts sell to traditional publishing houses. If it’s the trigger that results in your first finished novel, bravo! Now, hear me, I’m not trying to talk you out of trying this. So, yes, I’m all for anything that motivates a would-be novelist to start and (more importantly) to finish. He compliments novice filmmakers for merely finishing. I can’t count the number who have told me they can’t get started, let alone finish.Īnd as my film director son says about movies, simply producing one is a major accomplishment, let alone a good one. Over my four decades teaching writing, I’ve learned that the single most debilitating barrier to writers finishing writing their novels has been fear-fear that kills impetus. The NaNoWriMo folks “believe stories matter.” So do I.Īnd in the last 18 years since this effort began, countless writers have raved to me that NaNoWriMo was the vehicle that finally motivated them to actually finish. If you complete or “win” the challenge, you earn banners and certificates and can purchase t-shirts and other merchandise.
Once you hit 50,000 words, you upload your manuscript to the site for verification.
You create an account on the NaNoWriMo site and log your daily progress starting at 12:01 a.m. You’re encouraged to outline your novel in September and October. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to shake you out of your writing comfort zone and show you what’s possible while providing resources, support, and accountability. These days, you may continue a book you’ve already started as long as you count only new words written in November.
The official challenge is to write the first draft of a new, 50,000-word novel in 30 days - an average of 1,667 words per day. Need help writing your novel? Click here to download my ultimate 12-step guide.
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