How to Stay Motivated for NaNoWriMo + Free Printable 2023 Writing Calendar
Bella Rose Pope
A forever-learning, create-your-own-life touting, cheese enthusiast.
There are millions of people around the world right now wanting one thing: to write 50,000 words and finally win NaNoWriMo. There are also millions of people around the world staring at their computer and the blinking cursor of doom, hoping and wishing for just a drop of motivation to continue on and complete their word count goals.
Listen, it happens. You have a whole year to gear up for NaNoWriMo again—a whole year to get motivated—and then that motivation inevitably fizzles out halfway through the month.
You’re tired. Your outline isn’t as detailed this far into the draft. You’re struggling to think of the most basic of words. You may even feel a bit like a failure.
Well, you’re not. And you’re not alone. Staying motivated to write 50,000 words in a single month can be challenging, but we’ve got the tools (and hard truths) to help you finish your goal and WIN NaNoWriMo this year.
NaNoWriMo Motivation: A Word of Tough Love
The authors you love and admire, the ones you want to be like one day, don’t wait for motivation to write. That’s because they know the truth:
Motivation is not what makes you a successful writer. Discipline is.
This doesn’t mean that you have to be harsh to yourself and force yourself to write every spare minute you have, but it does mean that if you’re sitting around waiting for some magical moment of sudden motivation to come your way the second you sit down to write, you’re wasting your time.
Here at NovelPad, we actually want you to succeed. It’s why we’ve taken as much writer feedback as we can to shape our writing software to fit the needs of real writers. But sometimes that means taking a look at the truth you might not want to hear.
Motivation is fickle. It’s fading. It’s unreliable.
Creating a writing schedule, preparing your outline and $ novel notes$ , and using discipline to sit down and write is reliable.
Motivation is fickle, but you can do a few things to help kick yourself into gear and write with more energy.
How to Stay Motivated for NaNoWriMo
If you find your motivation is fizzling, there are definitely ways you can coax that elusive wonder back to the forefront. Here’s how.
1. Look how far you’ve already come
Your own progress can be one of the most powerful motivators to keep going. Most of the time, we go through the motions without looking backward to see what we’ve already accomplished.
How many words have you already written for NaNoWriMo? Chances are, it’s so many! You’ve already made great progress. If you could do it then, you can do it now because you’re the same person.
Remember to acknowledge what you’ve done instead of always looking at how much you have left to do. That alone can give you more motivation for NaNoWriMo.
2. Hack your own brain
You know yourself better than we do. There are way too many people to have a one-size-fits-all approach to motivation.
What has helped you feel like writing before? Always look back on previous moments of high writing motivation and identify how you got into that mood.
These are some helpful hacks to "trick" yourself into being more motivated to finish NaNoWriMo:
Set up a reward system for making progress: this can be anything from snacks to gaming time or even the ability to earn your way toward buying something new for yourself.
Look at aesthetic boards you’ve created for your world: a powerful motivator is often the idea that others will never be able to see what your world looks like if you never get it out into the world. That first requires you to WRITE. Looking at visuals you want others to "see" can help trigger momentum to write again.
Take a long walk and think about a scene: Sometimes you just need distance from the writing to help unblock yourself. A walk or movement of any kind can (even chores) while thinking about a scene can help put your brain into writing mode.
3. Review the NaNoWriMo published books
There are a ton of very successful novels that were mostly written during NaNoWriMo and have gone on to sell tons of copies and have thousands of fans.
Visualize what your book can be one day…if you finish writing it.
Here are some famous books where the drafts were written during NaNoWriMo:
All of these authors had more than just writing their drafts during NaNoWriMo in common: they $ finished writing them$ .
4. Reset your goals
What holds too many writers back from finishing NaNoWriMo is that they don’t meet their daily word count goal for a few days and suddenly need to stop because they’re not sure how to get back on track.
It’s actually pretty easy to reset your goals. Here’s a formula you can use to get a new daily word count goal based on how much you’ve written so far:
50,000 - [current words written] / [days left in NaNoWriMo] = New Daily Word Goal
Here’s an example of this in action:
50,000 - 17,843 = 32,157
32,157 / 15 = 2143.8
2144 words per day for the next 15 days will put you at 50,000 words written for NaNoWriMo.
You can do all this math yourself, or you can just grab your $ free NovelPad account$ and let our goal-setter populate your updated goal daily.
5. Create a new writing schedule
Based on the new goals you set up for yourself, create a new writing schedule. This should be more than just your daily word count goal.
Your schedule should include:
- What time you’ll write
- How many words you’ll write during that time
- Blocking off your calendar for the timeframe
- Setting a reminder for this writing time
- Where you’ll be writing (dedicated writing space)
- What style you’ll write in (e.g., using writing sprints or writing straight through)
The goal of your schedule is to not have to think about anything other than the writing. Figure out all the details ahead of time so you can just follow your own rules and get to writing.
6. Look ahead to your favorite scenes to come
There’s not much more exciting than the anticipation of writing a scene you cannot stop thinking about. Open your draft in NovelPad and take a peek at the $ scene cards$ in your outline.
- Which character exchange is the most exciting?
- Are there any funny scenes that will be a blast to write?
- Which parts of your book have you been thinking about most often?
Use the excitement-fuel of this fun to get through the other parts that might feel like a slog.
Printable writing calendar
For our pen-and-paper writers who don't vibe with NovelPad's in-software goal tracking, try out this $ free writing calendar$ .
Don't forget to specify when and where you'll get your writing sessions in—no need to reinvent the wheel every day.
Print it, fill it, keep it on your writing station to stay motivated all month!
What happens if you don’t finish NaNoWriMo?
Shockingly…the world keeps spinning.
We’re not trying to be harsh. The truth is that you’re not a failure if you don’t win. You’re not a bad writer if you don’t win. And not completing 50,000 words in a month is no measure of if you’ll ever be successful as an author.
What it means is that 50,000 words are a lot to write in a single month, and you may not be someone who can adhere to that type of rigorous schedule.
What makes you more successful as a writer is consistency. Preparing your character cards in detail, outlining your scenes, and setting consistent (and achievable) writing goals will do you far more good in your writing journey.