Thinking of doing NaNoWriMo? I am.

NaNoWriMo is upon us once again and the deadline to write 50,000 doesn’t seem any less of a challenge. This is especially so for moms who may have to juggle jobs with children. How can we stick to the schedule of writing 1667 words each day for 31 consecutive days, while remaining creative? 

The only reason I am seriously considering it this year is that Ella will be participating through school. The whole 7th grade is participating! If I'm gonna be bugging her about her 1667 words a day, why not join her?

But how? The Internet is full of advice about how to undertake NaNoWriMo successfully. But no one yet has asked the writers who do it each year for their best strategies and tips for staying committed to the very end. Until now, that is.

Fortunately, Stop Procrastinating, the productivity website, has surveyed 2000 NaNoWriMo writers ahead of this year’s challenge to find out what kept them going until the very end.

There’s no doubt that writers face many obstacles during November, from distractions, lack of time and creativity and fatigue. Some may even be tempted t give up entirely.

But the survey found that writers use a number of strategies to keep going. From learning to write just about any where, from a moving taxi to the toilet, to taking a very philosophical approach to their writing – it’s an opportunity for many to let their creativity out rather than produce a fully formed novel. Managing expectations and focusing on enjoyment are critical.

Stop Procrastinating has pulled all the results of their survey together in the infographic below.  

Now to figure out what I will write about!