NaNoWriMo is upon us, my friend. If you hear some distant screaming, that’s just me FREAKING OUT because I don’t feel at all ready to write this novel — yet here I am, writing this novel. YiKeS.
But that’s the whole point of NaNoWriMo: to put aside your doubts and hesitation and just JUMP IN. Write when you don’t feel like writing and create a habit of showing up every day and putting those words down. That’s why I feel in love with NaNo the first time I tried it, and now I can’t imagine not writing a novel in the course of one month.*
So whether you’re in the midst of screaming your way through NaNoWriMo yourself or if you’re simply watching your writer friends struggle from the sidelines, today I’m going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at MY TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF NANOWRIMO. This is going to be fun (and helpful!) so let’s dive right in.
*Obviously, this workflow isn’t the perfect fit for every writer. But I encourage you to try it! You never know until you try. 😉
PREPARING FOR NANOWRIMO
I’ve been preparing for NaNoWriMo all year. I hardcore prepare in October, which also includes scheduling blog posts and moving events on my calendar around to make time for writing every day. I work from home, which makes it possible for me to get my other work done on the weekends and write my book 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. Obviously everyone’s schedule will be different, so you have to make time for writing whenever it works for you!
If you want to see more about how I prepare for NaNoWriMo (particularly outlining and all that goodness) check out this video I made! Okay, let’s get into my typical writing day in November.
6:30 AM. WAKE UP.
As some of you know, I like to start my day at 6:30 AM.* My morning routine usually lasts an hour and a half — I like to have a cup of tea, read the Bible, journal some thoughts about it, take a shower, clean up my room, and then get my day started.
I think it’s super important to take a few quiet moments in the morning to let your mind ease out of sleep and into the day. I’m the type of person who can be WIDE AWAKE in 2 seconds, which means I often feel the urge to skip my morning routine — but my creativity suffers if I jump into writing without setting myself up for success.
*really I prefer to start my day at 4:30 am but I need 8 hours of sleep and I just can’t bring myself to go to sleep at 8:30 pm lol just no
8:00 AM. SIT DOWN TO WRITE.
After eating breakfast (hopefully waffles) I sit down to write with another cup of tea. (Many cups of tea are consumed while creating books. It’s only necessary.) I like to write in sprints, which means I’ll set a timer for 25 minutes and WRITE FULL STEAM AHEAD without pausing to think or look back. When my timer rings I get a 5-minute break to take my mind off the story. I usually get away from my computer, take some deep breaths, drink water, stretch, etc. Then it’s back to the book for another 25 minutes!
This is called the Pomodoro method and it works INCREDIBLY WELL for me. But! It doesn’t work for everyone, so like I said before: explore. Find what works best for you.
10:00 AM. BREAK FOR A WALK.
After 4 writing sprints (two hours of work with three 5-minute breaks) I like to give myself a slightly longer break — and I like to get outside because I don’t do that often enough. *nervous laughter*
So at 10:00 I’ll take a break from writing to go for a walk and breathe some fresh air. I find being outside VERY INSPIRING and it just clears your head in ways that other things can’t. Nature is as real as it gets, and sometimes you just have to get back in touch with something real to recharge your creativity.
10:30 AM. BACK TO WRITING.
Hopefully with another cup of tea. I usually feel super refreshed after my adventure in the great outdoors* and return to my WIP with a clearer mind. I reset my timer and keep sprinting. Until I need food.
*walking down my street
12:00 PM. LUNCH BREAK.
DO NOT COMPROMISE YOUR LUNCH BREAK!!! This is another great opportunity to rest yo brain and stuff yo face. Creative work is hard work and it actually burns a lot of calories so you have to feed yourself good nourishing food in order to keep creating great art.
12:45 PM. BACK TO WRITING.
Right after lunch, I get back into it: PUTTING DOWN THOSE WORDS. An average writing day for me is 5,000 words. Want to know my secret weapons for getting so many words written in one day? HERE THEY ARE:
- I carve out time on my calendar
- I SPRINT SPRINT SPRINT
- I don’t edit
- I don’t read what I just wrote
- I don’t research
- I make writing feel like a cozy fun ritual instead of a job
- And of course: I OUTLINE LIKE CRAZY
This is why I am able to do 5,000 word days pretty much every single day. I’m not one of these crazy-fast writers who can get the whole first draft done in three days but I do find that if I stick to a routine and practice good habits, I can stay consistent — I can get a lot of words down in a short amount of time. Good words that don’t need too much rewriting.
BTW I ALSO MADE A VIDEO ABOUT BEING A FASTER WRITER. Check it out.
4:00 PM. BREAK FOR WORKOUT.
Despite all the staring-at-a-computer I do for work, I’m actually a pretty athletic person. I love yoga, HIIT workouts, swimming, figure skating, and of course: karate. So you can imagine how much I want to get up and MOVE after sitting for most of the day. I usually alternate between yoga and HIIT workouts on weekdays, or practice karate when I can drag my sister away from her writing projects as well.
Exercise is SO GOOD for creativity. In my experience, a sedentary body leads to a sedentary mind. If you break up your work (or writing) with even just 20 minutes of movement, breath, and energy…wowza. You’ll see a big difference in your creative output.
4:30 PM. BACK TO WRITING.
By this point I’ve usually hit or exceeded my writing goal for the day, so it’s a little more chill. I still work in sprints just to save my poor eyes, but if I’m not hustling as hard towards the end of the day, it’s totally fine with me. I’ll make another cup of tea and get a few more hours of writing in before calling it quits for the day.
6:00 PM. SOCIAL MEDIA.
That’s right, my friend. I haven’t touched my phone once all day. THAT’S ANOTHER SECRET TO GETTING WORDS DOWN. Don’t get distracted by social media!! It can always wait until the end of the day, when all your words are written and you’re feeling good about yourself.
At 6:00 PM, I stop writing for the day.* I post on my social media, answer some messages, and reply to some comments. After that I put my phone away for the rest of the night and have dinner with my family. The rest of my evening is pretty chill: stretching, reading, another shower (10/10 recommend two showers a day haha it’s amazing), and HOPEFULLY I GET TO SLEEP BY 10:30 so that I can wake up the next morning and do it all again.
*unless I get a second wind and feel SUPER INSPIRED AT MIDNIGHT!! which kind of sucks because then I can’t get those 8 hours of sleep I need!! dang it!!!!
SO THAT’S MY TYPICAL DAY OF NANOWRIMO.
I know it probably sounds SUPER INSANELY SCHEDULED to some of you, but…that’s kind of how my whole life is?? It works for me. I enjoy it and feel really good about myself when I stick to my plans. Like I said before, the only reason I can spend so much of my time writing is because I’m self-employed and can move all my “other work” to the weekends. So Saturday and Sunday (for this month) are not chill days. Those are the days I take off from writing so that I can tackle other things on my to-do list.
What’s my NaNoWriMo novel about?
FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK. Because I’m not going to answer. HAHAHA. < so funny. But in all seriousness, I’m not going to tell you yet!! Last year I saved up the “big reveal” for the end of the month when NaNo was all over. Then I shared snippets and aesthetics and playlists and ALL KINDS OF FUN STUFF and it was a great big party so…that’s what I’m going to do this year!
But I’ll give you one little hint: it’s the first ever futuristic book I’ve ever written.
THERE THAT’S ALL I’M GONNA SAY ABOUT IT. FOR NOW.
Over and out.
TALK, BRO
TELL ME: what does YOUR typical NaNoWriMo day look like? What’s your total word count goal? WHAT’S YOUR BOOK ABOUT?! only if you want to share, of course 😉 Do you like writing in sprints or just taking your time? What’s your favorite way to break up screen time?
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