Poor Twilight finally passed out from writing so many shipfics...
As of 9 AM Pacific, we are currently at 1,095,864 words written by over 30 authors for NaPoWriMo 2017!
I suppose it’s time to come clean and show you the man behind the curtain.
I suppose it’s time to come clean and show you the man behind the curtain.
People often think I’m crazy for doing NaPoWriMo/NaNoWriMo. I don’t really blame them. Especially considering the stuff I tackled this year.
Personally, I do it to challenge myself to a new level. But why did I want to take the reins this year? Why did I promote it so darn much? Because too many people go on about the story they’d “like to write.” I've seen amazing ideas come out of people who are "too busy" to write. Well, I want to see them.
The truth is...
The real secret of NaPoWriMo isn’t that you wrote a lot of words in a month.
The real secret of NaPoWriMo is that you can write a lot of words in a month.
If you wrote more this month than you normally do, it doesn’t matter if you hit that goal you set at the beginning of November. You won NaPoWriMo by doing NaPoWriMo.
And just remember, even if you didn’t hit your goal, please send in your word count so I can add it to the tally of the month! You still get recognized for participation!
I’ve seen a few comments saying that “participation doesn’t matter” or that folks have “lost.” As I’ve said from day one, this isn’t a competition against anyone but yourself. You’ve all done an amazing job and you should be proud. I know a lot of you pushed yourself harder than ever before.
For some, this was the first time you’ve ever tried anything like this. Some of you are veterans of the trenches of the word count war. Some of you had real life come and bite you in the flank. Some of you suddenly found yourselves with more free time than ever before (if you’re one of those, I don’t like you).
For those of you who managed to get your full 50K clear, make sure to head over to National Novel Writing Month’s website to get your winning goodies! Not only do you get banners of glory (perfect for a FimFiction page), but you also get 50% of Scrivener. And Scrivener just released 3.0 for Mac!
And do yourself a favor. Spend the $16.67 get your official NaNoWriMo winner’s shirt. You deserve it!
"The wedding bells rang over Canterlot like the chimes of crystal goblets..."
As far as I can tell, this is the biggest National Pony Writing Month Equestria Daily has ever hosted. You folks pledged over four million words! That’s almost four times the length of the entire Harry Potter series. It’s almost nine times the length of the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Not only that, but ninety-six authors submitted their intention to participate. That's a 33% increase in participants from last year!
Even better? You folks have been amazingly supportive of one another in the EqD NaPoWriMo Discord Channel. Even though I couldn’t give you my undivided attention, you were always there for one another, encouraging each other, building each other up and constantly telling people to never stop pushing. Seriously, you blew me away at just how amazing you were to one another.
I’m going to go on record and say this has been Equestria Daily’s best NaPoWriMo yet and it’s all because of you amazing authors!
"Or three shipfics for one normal story!"
But you’re probably wondering what’s next.
Well, you’ve got a few options.
The best option is simple: Don’t stop!
That’s right! Keep writing! Keep up that pressure. I’m sure many of you found that as the month went by, getting higher and higher daily word counts became easier. Keep up that momentum and write the next story!
The next option (and the option I’ll be taking) is to don’t stop, but lower the goal a bit.
If you've been killing yourself this month, you deserve a break. Personally, I’ll be dropping my goal from 2,500 to probably 1,000-1,500 a day. Remember though, it’s relative. Give yourself some time to breathe, whatever that means for you.
I know. This month is December, with Christmas, Hearth’s Warming Eve and lots of other holidays! Friends, family and other madness. Make some time for writing in there.
The true goal of NaNoWriMo/NaPoWriMo is to help you develop the habit of writing. You can do incredible things with this. In the last year, I’ve personally written over half a million words (note: I’m not saying you should do this. We’ve all established I’m totally nuts). That's not counting blog posts, gaming journals and outlines! Still, all that came from a ton a hell of a lot work.
Trust me. It’s worth it. Especially if you’re aiming to someday be a professional author.
"Sunset smiled and gently pulled a blanket over her sleeping marefriend..."
Now, if you’re tempted to suddenly jump into editing your story, I recommend you don’t. Let it sit for a month (unless you’re still writing it, then keep going!). Right now, you either think it’s the best thing ever written or the worst thing ever written. Give yourself some time away from the story and then come back to it fresh in January or February.
However, I know some of you just have to get this out to the masses as soon as possible. Then I’m going to ask you to wait for about a week, because I’m going to be bringing a couple “NaPoWriMo What’s Next Interviews” to give you some insight into story synopses & descriptions, elevator pitches and even cover art!
Trust me, you do not want to miss this, because this is the real secret to getting people to read your stories!
Remember, as long as you wrote more than you usually would, as long as you stretched yourself, you won National Pony Writing Month!
Fantastic job! Now, get some rest! (Celestia knows I need some!)
-Novel
"And after a good night's sleep, they lived happily ever after."
