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Lessons learned from NaNoWriMo: Part V
This is a guest post from Caitlin Fitzsimmons, a journalist, travel writer, blogger and wannabe fiction writer. Her site is caitlinfitzsimmons.com.
When I signed up to NaNoWriMo, I announced it on my personal blog, and everywhere else I could think of, such as Facebook and goal setting site 43 Things. I did regular updates when I was doing well and when I was doing badly and I told all my friends and family to ask me about how the novel was going all through the month. I did this because I knew that motivation would start to wane once the going got tough and inner drive might need bolstering with the threat of public humiliation.
I linked up with virtual friends on 43 Things and on the NaNoWriMo forums who were doing it as well, so we could encourage and support each other. I also went along to some NaNoWriMo write-ins - meeting with other London participants in real world cafes or libraries for writing sessions.
This approach worked beautifully. I found that having people to report to helps keep you motivated and honest with yourself.
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