With approximately 10 days until the official launch of WriMo, chances are you will be seeing a lot of blog posts with these tags in the very near future: #nano #nanowrimo #wrimo #writing #amwriting

In a previous post, I explained that NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization because "writing matters." Check out the NaNoWriMo 2015 Annual Report to see what they've raised and where the funds were distributed.

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Maybe you're on the fence about signing up for the challenge.

Maybe 50,000 words sounds too intimidating.

Maybe you've got the attention span of a gnat.

Maybe you simply don't want to commit to something like WriMo because you just know you'll fail.

Let's get rid of the stinkin' thinkin'.
Come sit on my lap as I soothe away your angst with some tips to help you survive and WIN WriMo.

Yeah, that's only creepy if you want it to be.
wink :: wink

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🔷 State Your Intentions

Mindset is 99.9% of the game.
You've always wanted to write a novel. Terrific! This is the perfect opportunity to join hundreds of thousands of writers worldwide in achieving this dream. The support system is phenomenal.

• Pick your genre
• Post your working title and quick synopsis (these can be updated later)
• Tell your family that you're going to be busy in the month of November
• Make a commitment to yourself and your work-in-progress

My husband already knows that I'm going to be a maniac. And since taking on the role of Municipal Liaison for the Florida Elsewhere region, I just added to my pile of insanity, but you don't see me panicking, do you?

🔷 It's not a sprint. It's a marathon.

• If you've ever competed in anything in your life, then you know there's a certain amount of training involved to become really good at it. Writing is no exception.

• If the only thing you come away from attempting the process is writing something every single day, I'd say that was a win.

• If you only managed to write 30K words (give or take a few thousand) - that is X amount of words ahead of where you started.

"Winning" is really subjective. It highly depends on your goals and aspirations.

Some of us only have small fiction stories in us. That's okay! Consider writing flash fiction pieces and make a compilation book out of it.

And by the way... There isn't anything in the WriMo rule book that says all 50,000 words have to be dedicated to ONE book. If you're writing on Steemit, use your blog toward your word count! Hell, I don't care if it's your grocery list! - JUST WRITE.

Train your brain and write something every day.

🔷 Stay Healthy

You're piling on the commitment of writing up to 1667 or more words a day into an already hectic schedule. Don't make yourself sick about it.

• Get your rest
• Eat right
• Exercise or meditate (i'm planning on doing 30 seconds of planking for 30 days too)
• Daily affirmations
• Small achievable goals
• Pace yourself

🔷 Create a writing ritual

• Figure out the best time of day to write.
  I'm a night owl so writing at night is when I can concentrate the best. Generally my house is quiet because everyone else is sleeping or otherwise occupied.
• Surround yourself in comfort

What I mean by that is: Have your favorite beverage ~ Wear comfy clothes ~ Listen to mood music to help your muse along ~ Have a clean work area ~ Stage your work area for comfort. After all, you will be dedicating a good amount of time there.

🔷 Get your family on board

This is important. Let your family know that you have set a writing goal and need their help to achieve it.

What can they do?

• Pick up your slack and do some extra chores
• Prepare meals ahead of time
• Adhere to your "office hours* aka Do Not Disturb.

🔷 Forgive yourself!

There will be days when sitting at your computer will seem impossible.

Do not get into the bad habit of saying, "If I take today off, I will catch up on my word count tomorrow."

That kind of thinking becomes quicksand and way too much pressure. Don't do it.
Listen. I know from experience that there are days when writing 200 words feels impossible. I've also had days when I wrote 10,000+ words painlessly.

Be organic in this process.

Think of it this way: If you lose a day's sleep, you cannot get it back. There's no such thing as getting caught up. So, you give each day a fresh start and do what you can.

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Stay tuned for more helpful tips
to survive and thrive during WriMo!

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My next WriMo post will touch on getting your story organized for success and links to helpful resources!

🔷 🔷 🔷

Follow the tags to find other WriMo participants!

• all animated gifs are from giphy.com
• photo at the top is mine.

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Your comments, upvotes and shares are always appreciated.

Thank you.

For older content, visit my Steemit blog page