My NaNoWriMo 2023 Results

Mission accomplished.

I wrote a while back about how excited I was about NaNoWriMo this November, especially with how I’ve been doing with my very own morning routine through the 5 AM Club. Since I’m a member, I decided to dedicate my growth time (5:40 to 6 AM) all month to writing my novel.

“Even having one word beats zero.”

How Did It Go?

In short: Better than I expected!

I honestly thought I would barely eke out 15,000 words, but here I am just north of 20,000, so I managed to surpass my own expectations on how well I’d actually do.

Day	Words Written	Total So Far
1	791	791
2	1,183	1,974
3	1,304	3,275
4	1,414	4,689
5	2,544	7,233
6	897	8,130
7	1,512	9,642
8	295	9,937
9	769	10,706
10	308	11,014
11	513	11,527
12	208	11,735
13	703	12,438
14	1,465	13,903
15	595	14,498
16	599	15,097
17	359	15,456
18	522	15,978
19	2,070	18,048
20	222	18,270
21	416	18,686
22	355	19,041
23	158	19,199
24	344	19,543
25	657	20,200
26	95	20,295
27	459	20,754
28	410	21,164
29	556	21,720
30	493	22,213

TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN IN NOVEMBER: 22,213

However, there are a few aspects to elaborate on to make more sense of this:

• I don’t follow the 5 AM Club on weekend mornings, although I usually still get up rather early most of the time just because I’m used to it.
  • I still write whenever and whatever I want on weekends.
• I usually used downtime on weekdays to add to the novel, but some days were more productive than others.
• Some days, I admit, I barely wrote just to keep the streak alive. Other days, I wrote a lot. Having my allotted time in the 5 AM Club’s 20/20/20 Rule made me feel better for at least writing something on a given day.
• I’m tracking word counts both within Scrivener and in my bullet journal.

“On all 30 days in November, as shown above, I managed to write at least once a day.”

Of course, I know the “proper” rules of NaNoWriMo dictate that I write a minimum of 50,000 words, but that was always one of the biggest hurdles for me when I first attempted the challenge nearly a decade ago.

Back then, I would start off the first few days of November with a mountain of confidence, I’d run into a minor setback, and then I wouldn’t know how to adapt to force myself to get 1,667 words that day. Soon after, I would simply stop writing and feel bad for the rest of the month that I couldn’t commit or finish anything. Then December would roll around and I’d feel like a failure until maybe the next year when it was time to try again.

This is why, in my previous entry on NaNo, I committed to simply write daily instead of writing to reach a specific word count. In this respect, I succeeded with flying colors. On all 30 days in November, as shown above, I managed to write at least once a day.

Did You Finish Your Story At Least?

In short: No.

Quite the contrary, it feels more like I’m barely starting to get the story off the ground with some major action and conflict, but my lower word count was mostly as a result of me getting to specific points where I thought to myself, “I want to go from A to B, but I’m not sure how to set that up.”

I’d still try to keep the ball rolling and my efforts would eventually be rewarded with me being able to continue the story, which would result in higher word counts.

On some of those days, I would be particularly inspired and I would get into a nice, deep writing session. Other days, I would barely hammer any words out and just try again the next day. On one day in particular (can you guess which one?), I had a day off and only remembered to write last minute in the evening so it would still count as part of the streak.

You Planning To Edit Later On?

In short: You bet!

I know my writing is far from perfect, which is why I do need to go back for thoughtful revising and editing. A good amount of editing would likely trim a tremendous amount of words from my manuscript, which is another reason I wasn’t so fixated on hitting 50,000 words. What’s the point of simply trying to hammer words out for the minimum count if I go back to revise and wind up with far less?

What Else Helped?

Aside from my 20 minute “growth” block being dedicated to writing almost every single time, I had to give a little credit to:

• My Field Notes pocket memo books that I carry around
• My Second Brain
• Coffee (enough said)
• The loving support of my girlfriend
• Scrivener on macOS
• The growth mindset

“This time, in 2024, I’m hoping to push my word count boundaries.”

I specifically listed the pocket notebooks and Second Brain first because I tend to finish my pocket memo books within two weeks. Typically, if I’m idle or waiting somewhere, I start writing down ideas or details for the novel. If I like them enough, I set aside time later to transfer them into my Second Brain so I don’t have to go and dig up an old notebook to re-reference an idea I wrote down a few weeks or months back. I know it’s easier for me now that I have a better idea how to archive my notebooks, but using my Second Brain is ultimately far simpler and more frictionless.

Would I Do This Again?

In short: More than likely.

This time, in 2024, I’m hoping to push my word count boundaries. Granted, I’m not entirely sure I’ll still be working on my current manuscript or writing an entirely different one by that point. I think a goal of 25,000 to 30,000 words written in the month of November is a rather noble target after this past November, but who knows what kind of place I’ll be in this time next year?

Have you ever attempted NaNoWriMo? How did you do? Did you get to 50,000 words, or did you set a different goal criteria instead? If you haven’t attempted NaNoWriMo, have you considered it? I’d love to know what you have to say.