The web
If software doesn’t cut it for you, why not try the online option, using websites
National Novel Writing Month official website
Price: Free; Available at nanowrimo.org
NaNoWriMo hosts its own text entry service, and you can certainly use this to enter in your story here, though it’s pretty barebones and we only used it to count our words last time.
Google Docs
Price: Free; Available at Google Drive
Google’s online document system is a bit like the free web-based equivalent of Microsoft Office, allowing you to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with ease. All you need is a Google account – the same one you use for Gmail – and you can login, creating documents and editing them from anywhere, including Android or iOS devices, as well as, of course, your web browser on a PC or Mac.
WordPress.com
Price: Free; Available at wordpress.com
A slightly different approach to NaNoWriMo is to write each day and each chapter as an entry to your own personal blog, showing the world exactly what you’re writing. WordPress can host your pages, you’ll just have to fill in what they say.
Tips
Adding to the NaNoWriMo word count
As you can see, there are quite a few different ways you can work on a novel or other form of writing, but none of these apps really connect with the official NaNoWriMo website, except of course for the site itself.
So make sure to login every day or two and update your account with your new words, allowing the website to calculate how many words you’re up to.
This is one of the reasons why we work in sheets based on the day we’re writing, because it makes it so much easier to select all and copy day two into the NaNoWriMo online word count, as opposed to remembering where we finished last.
Backing up is your friend
Many of the apps we’ve mentioned have some form of backup, and it’s insanely important that you take advantage of it.
This is your book, your novel, and keeping it backed up – not just on your physical device, but somewhere on the cloud – will mean it’s stored safely so you can possibly edit it later on.
If the app doesn’t have Dropbox integration or you’re using a computer, grab an account at the service and copy the files over while you’re writing.
Trust us, the last thing you want to do is lose all that work.
Get comfy
Over the course of a day, we write at least three to five thousand words. That’s a decent amount, and then during National Novel Writing Month, we go home and write some more.
This much writing means we know how important it is to get comfortable, because you need to put all of your attention into your words.
We find it best to set yourself up, maybe on your bed, or in a sturdy seat with a decent back, and just make sure you’re going to be comfortable. This might mean there’s a cup of coffee at your side, or something else relaxing.
Whatever it is, just make sure you’re comfortable, because it’s hard to get words out if you’re not.
Just write
Writing seems difficult, but once you get into your flow, it’s pretty much full steam ahead, and you brain can just let you dive in, your fingers going to work.
Some people worry about editing their work as they go along, because much of what you type can be nonsense, but don’t worry about this, because NaNoWriMo is about writing, not editing.
So keep writing, and don’t worry about the end result. If it sounds like a mess of words and a chaos of sentences and poor structure, fix it later, after you’ve completed the 50,000 word minimum.
Just concentrate on writing words, that’s the important part.
Don’t worry if you can’t fill the word quota
National Novel Writing Month is great fun and tends to exercise that big muscle in that head of yours, but don’t worry if you can’t fill the word quota every day.
With a 50,000 word minimum, that’s roughly 1670 words per day, which sounds like a lot.Don’t worry about that number, though, and make sure you’re enjoying the act of writing.
If you’re doing it and finding that writing had become more of a chore, stop for a while and come back later.
