How I learned to apply discipline to my creative projects

I’ve been obsessed with “words” this entire month.?

Thinking them up, writing them down…?

Rinse and repeat, I’ve chased that cycle when I’ve woken up, been falling asleep, out with friends, on the train, cooking dinner, going to the gym...?

Other than work and the basics of life admin, getting my words down has been my top priority, with “back to my writing wormhole…” becoming my signature sign off for texts to friends.?

The reason for this writing madness has been NaNoWriMo , or National Novel Writing Month, which I took part in for the first time this November.?

NaNoWriMo is a global writing challenge originally started by an American non-profit organisation of the same name.?

The aim is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 69 words per hour, or 1.2 words per minute. It’s up to you to decide whether that sounds like a lot, but for myself, it’s the highest writing goal I’ve ever set out to achieve within the shortest frame of time.

Last year, over 400,000 writers took part. Participants sign up to the NaNo website, and meticulously log every word that contributes to their stories. Traditionally, it’s the time for novelists to attempt a first draft of a brand new novel. Many “Old School Wrimos” still follow this format, but many others including myself fall into the “NaNo Rebel” category, which is where we contribute words towards any writing project - fiction or not.

My goal for the month was of course to "win" by reaching the 50,000 word mark, but also to finally give time and well-deserved attention to some creative projects I've worked on and off on over the years.

You're supposed to hit par at 1,667 words every day but that goal wasn’t personally important to me. Knowing myself, I had a feeling that my writing output would be a rollercoaster, and it was. Some days I had the energy to engage in a ‘writing marathon' and other days I simply didn't.

On my best, or most dedicated day, I clocked in over 8,000 words. Some other days, I'd write just a few words or a sentence as I was falling asleep to not lose my daily writing streak. From what I heard from others who were taking part in the challenge, the ups and downs are normal.

Sometimes, when my concentration waned, I could only log one single word at a time.?

One single word can seem pointless or uninspiring. But like a single brick contributes to the building of a house, one more word was down on the page, and I was one word closer to the 50,000 goal.

Now I realise that the most important achievement of the month has been to work towards a dedicated goal, and that writing a novel or other work of non-fiction may not be relevant to a wider audience on LinkedIn.?

But, there are many people in my network who could benefit in taking part in NaNo in the non-traditional way— to finish their PhD dissertation, freelance some articles for a magazine, or write long-overdue cover letters and introductory emails to new employers or clients. With that sentiment in mind, I thought it would be helpful to jot down some lessons learned from my 2022 NaNo experience, which me tremendously in actually doing some projects I've long wanted to do:

Things I did well:

1. Joined a social group?

When you sign up to the NaNo platform, you are invited to select a ‘home region’ which leads you to a forum where you can connect with other writers in your local area. I was lucky in that my local chapter, the Brighton Wrimos, is a very lively and engaged group, run by very dedicated volunteers who host regular virtual writing sessions, in-person meet ups, games nights, and most importantly - remain online all day, every day to provide moral support.?

Having a space where I could regularly announce small wins and frustrations was the single biggest factor in crossing the finish line. While I told friends about the challenge I was taking part in, connecting with others who understood what I was going through, in real time, made all the difference. From the first day, I was committed to joining the local forum and being actively engaged in it.?

This habit was pretty easy to take on as I’ve been taking part in twice-weekly morning virtual writing circles for over six months. How do they work? You sign up to a video chat then put yourselves on mute for an hour while you write. They mimic the social validation you’d experience if you were at a library or coffee shop - if you catch yourself drifting off or your concentration wanes and you look up from your screen and see others doing their tasks, it’s much easier to get back to the task at hand, rather than letting yourself “just take a quick peek” at YouTube or any other source of distraction. Some days I’ve participated in the writing circles and not written a single word but done my taxes or some other task instead, freeing my brain to write later-?it's all a part of the wider writing process.

2. Paid no attention to the pace and accomplishments of other writers

While it was genuinely great to connect with other writers taking on the challenge, some of them accomplished an incredible amount of words (we’re talking more than 100,000) even before the month ended. Many of these writers have been doing the challenge for years and have also been writing at a dedicated pace all year long - there’s no way I could keep up with that, and it also wouldn’t serve me well to even try. Thankfully, the community of my local chapter of writers felt supportive, not competitive.

3. Changed my writing location often

This may not apply to everyone, but I find that frequently changing my location helps an enormous amount in keeping my brain stimulated enough to continuously engage in the creative process. Throughout the month I've worked from my home office, in various cafes and coffee shops, at the British Library, in the lounge of a fancy 5-star hotel in London, on the train, from my bed in the middle of the night and probably a few others I’m forgetting. Sometimes you’re more productive while warm and comfortable at home, sometimes forcing yourself out into the cold to be surrounded by others can do an immense amount to re-charge your energy.

4. Understood that small rewards are super important for your brain.?

Sometimes I'd sit down and log when I'd written 800 words, and sometimes it was when it was 36. The NaNo site lets you win badges for small wins along the way, such a when you write your first 1,667 words or when you reach another milestone every 10K. It’s silly but striving for the next badge really works.

5. Made my goals simple

I only had two real goals for the month. I wanted to write 50,000 words and cross the finish line. The other thing that I wanted was to successfully apply discipline to my creativity, in order to be able to comfortably say “I’m a writer” not “I write things, sometimes.” It doesn’t matter to me whether I ever publish anything or not, there are definitely some projects which will probably never see another pair of eyes, but that’s completely fine.?

At the start of the year I set out a new years resolution to apply discipline to my writing, and I was determined not to let that goal slide by year's end.

For context, for the past 10 months I’ve been tinkering away on one creative project with a reasonable amount of focus. Some weeks I made an effort to write, other weeks passed without my fingers touching the keyboard.?

In those months I wrote about 6,000 words that I was happy with, whereas this month I wrote another 3,000?for that project and was happy enough to say I completed a first draft - the act of accomplishing that being my ultimate goal for the year.?

A long time ago I read a quote by Paddington author Michael Bond: “I have been writing every day of my life, seven days a week, for almost 50 years. Even Christmas Day. But I still enjoy it.” That kind of daily habit seemed like a huge hurdle to me, as my creativity has been like stubborn cat, coming and going as it pleases. After NaNo, that kind of habit doesn’t seem so difficult anymore.?

6. Improved my way of writing

Continuing from my previous point, the more you write, the faster and easier it becomes. It’s remarkable how quickly that can happen. On the days I gave myself the full day to write, I was writing better and faster towards the end of the day. The hours build up, providing momentum, until you can type at full speed -- the pace of your mind and fingers finally synced.

I also learned to write in drafts and to regularly keep track of my words in a log, just like any other freelancer would do when completing a project. I think I previously would have though this would stifle my creativity, but it did the opposite. It kept me on track and focused, especially when doing it alongside other writers. I also made time to stop writing and plan out writing goals for the next day and took part in mini writing sprints, usually for 10-20 minutes and would write as fast I could with others, in real time. Sometimes I’d write 600 words in that time, which I couldn’t have imagined I was capable of doing beforehand.

Things I learned for next time:

Now of course the first time you try a challenge like this you’re doing to make some mistakes along the way or realize how you could make the process easier for yourself next time. I dove into the challenge with the aim to work on (and hopefully complete) a handful of projects I had started over the years.

It might not be obvious from the outset, but the lengthier projects were easier to draft. Where there were ideas, words would follow.

Where there weren’t, I’d sit blinking at a white page for a while. There were moments where I stalled, not because I didn't have the energy or motivation to write, but because I finished the draft of one project and didn't quite have an idea for the next.

1. Pick your projects wisely

Some of the shorter pieces of non fiction I had bookmarked for NaNo actually require more research time than writing time and were not the most strategic projects to pick for the month - they’d only earn me a few thousand words at most, so I’d skip over them as those research hours would eat up too many of my limited writing hours. Next time, I’ll do the research required ahead of time, and dive into the words during the actual month.

2. Don’t forget to calculate your ‘thinking’ hours

Writing is also not just about throwing words on the page, it's also about thinking and you need a lot of time and energy for that. You need to be taking very good care of yourself the entire month- sleeping enough hours, staying hydrated and fed, making sure to stretch your muscles, or else you’re making the challenge that much harder to achieve.?

Thankfully there isn’t much ‘outside temptation’ in November, at least here in the UK. The month is a little cold, dark and miserable when daylight leaves you every day by the late afternoon. It’s probably my least favourite month of the year, but with a giant overarching goal to keep me focused off the impending slide into seasonal affective disorder, I haven’t minded the irritatingly constant drizzling rain so much.?

3. Become a planner

Writers define themselves as either “pantsers” or “planners” or somewhere in between. Pantsers quite literally sit down and start writing - they fly by the seat of their pants and let themselves enjoy the process of discovering how the story unfolds, just like a reader would. A planner - obviously, plans out each character and plot line along the way. I’ve always fallen somewhere in between the two, depending on what creative energy I was feeling that day.?

But for NaNoWriMo, I can see how much easier it would be if you planned out your plot a few weeks beforehand so that you could have a clear idea of what you needed to do each day and had an idea of how many words or hours it might take you to get there. It's only with experience that you learn these things.?

Well, if you’re still reading by this point, I hope this has been a useful insight into the NaNoWriMo challenge and my own experience. Now, following the tradition of most writers who take part, I’ll leave my drafts for a few weeks and dive into editing mode in January. Then, the next NaNo challenge takes place in April. Will you be taking part or did you take part this year and want to share your experience? Do you have any other tips for tackling a long-ignored project? Leave your comments and thoughts below!