NaNoWriMo

So, last post I wrote about my NaNoWriMo survival kit, and said in a few places "More on that later."  Well, that's why I'm here folks!  This is the more on that later part, and lets get started!
So, this post is about NaNoWriMo (Obviously), and my own experiences with it.
NaNoWriMo is an annual occurrence in November.  It's directed at writers, and it's goal, or challenge, is to get you to write 50,000 words in one month.  Now, generally, there are 9-12 words per line in books, but that isn't an absolute.  But there are about 250 words per page, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less.  The Hunger Games, as a total, is about 99k, roughly, depending on who you talk to.  Why am I driving this point about random word counts in a post about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)?  Because if you do choose to do it, it's often a good thing to know what you're walking into.  This is writing half of the Hunger Games in a month, while you still have other occurrences, like forgetting, birthday parties, tea parties, school, Thanksgiving, and a whole lot of other things that can get in the way of writing.  That basically lowers the time amount by half, giving you 15 days of your choosing throughout the month, or less, or even more, depending on how much you write.  The above were just certain scenarios that came to my head on the spur of the moment.
On a side note, how can you tell what the word count of a book is?  Do you look it up?  How can you find it for yourself?  The answer is, normally I do it for myself, but yes, many people have calculated (I'm sure just at the word calculated, many of you yawned, stopped listening, or whatever, but hey, what can I say?) it and have placed their calculations on the internet.  But not every book has an internet solution, so here's how you do it.  One word: Average.  I, personally, take five lines from one page, and count the words on each line.  Then I add them together and divide the sum by five.  In other words, I average the five lines together to get an average word per line.  Then I multiply the average WPL (word per line) with the amount of lines on the page, then I multiply the number of words per page by the page number.  I'm not sure that made any sense, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
So, in the end of November, you enter in your word count, and validate your novel, and win!  Winners get special goodies from the sponsors (50% off scrivener one year) and it's really cool.  If you don't win, the people at NaNoWriMo still support you and let you know that what you chose to do was actually really hard, and just deciding to do it was an achievement.  Either way, they offer lots of support, and you actually get news in your inbox on the site with tips and tricks, and info on the write-ins and stuff.
Another event they have is the Young Writer's program, and that's for students and stuff, and I don't really know that much about it because I've never participated in it, but I do know it accompanies NaNoWriMo, and the students can set their own word count goal.
The last NaNoWriMo event I can think of, or there is as of right now, is Camp NaNoWriMo.  This takes place in April and July and is fantastic.  There is a "cabin" where you chat with several people in your cabin.  I love my cabin mates, and cannot wait to start writing in July (Three days away!).  In this event, you can choose your own word count goal, and wether or not you want to edit, or write a book, or what.  It's also really cool, but one thing you should know, if you set a large word count (like I did), know that you can only change the word count before the winning begins.  You can't change it after.
So, my own NaNo experiences are actually funny and heartwarming, now that I look back on them.  My first NaNoWriMo, I ended up with 4k to write on the very last day, on which I could only write after 2 o' clock or so.  That was very stressful, and once I won, my aunt bought me a venti frappuccino from Starbucks, which was a definite plus. My next NaNo, which was actually Camp NaNo in April 2015 (Yes, July will be my third NaNo) was absolutely stressful.  I set a word count goal of 60k.  THATS A BIG WORDCOUNT GOAL.  Let me say it again.  THAT'S A BIG WORDCOUNT GOAL.  I thought, that since I hadn't worked every day in November for at least an hour, and still finished, I thought that I could write every day in April and finish with extra words.  Fast forward through April, and you end up with me tired of my book around the 30k mark, because I didn't develop it well enough, hence why I'm a plotter, and I was bored with the story.  Fast forward again, now I decide I can't write 60k and decide to go change it when, you guessed it, the winning began THAT DAY.  So then, I'm writing flash fiction and working on expanding the flash fiction into short stories, because I was really bad at expansion in books.  Basically, I ended up on the last day of writing, with 10k left to write.  THAT'S A BIG WORDCOUNT GOAL.  I woke up at three o'clock, A.M., and began writing.  By 11 o' clock, I had finished.  I then went to Physics class (home schooled) and spent three hours in a class that required brain power I didn't have.
Now here's a peek into my personality.  I consider myself good at math.  So, when I see numbers, and that I finished 10k in 8 hours, guess what?   I begin to calculate (There's that word again).  If I write for 16 hours a day, for 5 days straight, I can write 100k in 5 days.  I've often read that writing fast is a good thing.  So, normally, I would begin catching up on sleep, stocking up on chocolate and coffee, putting my word count goal to 100k, and any other manner of things.  But instead, I'm doing the smart thing this July.  I'm setting my word count goal to 10k, and I'm not gonna stress.  (Though next April, 600k, here I come!  Actually, just kidding, but that would be cool, wouldn't it?)
Ever tried NaNoWriMo?  Do YOU like it?  Let me know in the comments!

-Viola June HFA-DGN