So we talked about choosing a topic and strategies for preparing you to write every day. But there’s also a social aspect to Nanowrimo. There are all sorts of forums that you can access on the nanowrimo.org site which I did the first couple of years. In Maryland, we also go in big for write-ins and I imagine that even outside of Maryland, you can probably find other participants by starting a thread in a forum.  Here, we also have a kick-off luncheon and ending party.

No matter where you are as writer: beginner, somewhere inbetween, advanced on your own, or MFA/MA graduate, I’ve found that belonging to different organizations (state organizations and workshops), SCBWI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators), AWP (Associated Writers Programs), or alumni groups helps keep me on track. Conferences can be helpful too as long as you don’t take the same manuscript (or let’s say same pages) to every workshop.  If you’ve always wanted to write a book and had trouble getting started, Nanowrimo can help you get your project off the ground. Once you have a substantial amount of writing done on a book even if you don’t “win” Nanowrimo by writing 50,000 words during November, it’s very satisfying and maybe, it will be that little extra push you need to keep going. That’s what surviving is all about.