4 Reasons NaNoWriMo Rocks

National Novel Writing Month may seem daunting (and it is!), but it’s also a great opportunity for us writers. I’m here to encourage you one more time to jump on the bandwagon with this guest post from the blog the Write Practice:

by the Magic Violinist:

4 Reasons NaNoWriMo Is Great for Writers

But if you prepare for it and work hard at making it a priority, NaNoWriMo can be extremely rewarding. Here are four reasons why.

1. You practice discipline

If you’re going to complete a fifty-thousand word novel in a month, you don’t have time for writer’s block and boredom. You have to sit down, take a deep breath, and write something, even if it’s total crap.

The point of NaNoWriMo isn’t to be the next Shakespeare or Harper Lee. The point is to write. You have to get those words on the page. Then come December 1^st, it’s up to you to polish what you’ve written.

2. You practice speed

50,000 divided by thirty comes to about 1,666, which is how many words you need to write daily to complete your goal. Difficult? Absolutely. But impossible? No. You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish in an hour when you really focus and let those fingers fly.

And thirty days of practice isn’t going to vanish when the clock chimes twelve on December first. I find that each year I participate in NaNoWriMo, I get a little bit faster, and you will, too.

3. You make new friends

Some of my best blogging friends have come from NaNoWriMo, and we keep in touch to this day. It’s hard to go into something like this alone, especially if it’s your first year. So when you sign up, if you sign up, poke around the forums for people who are attempting this for the first time. Strike up a conversation, ask the experts for advice. They’re more than happy to help a newbie out.

4. You end up with a story

Whether you reach your goal or not, you’ll have at least tried, and you’ll end up with something new to work on, or at the very least an experience you’ll always have. There’s no downside to signing up, because even “failing” has its perks.

This is my sixth year participating, and every time I get a little better, make new friends, have a new story. Are they the greatest stories? Maybe not. But do they have the potential to be? Of course. Every story can shine with some hard work and much-needed editing.

So what are you waiting for? Are you up to the challenge?