Two weeks from today is New Year’s. As I write this, I have no Christmas decorations up, final exams to grade, and presents to buy. But all of that is taking a back seat to my plan for the new year. I’m doing JanNoWriStart.
What is JanNoWriStart? Glad you asked.
JanNoWriStart is for those of us who punted on NaNoWriMo in November, and want another shot at a first draft. But I propose some rule changes. Rather than trying to get 50,000 words by the end of the month, I suggest setting a word count goal for each day. JanNoWriMo is about meeting that daily goal. “They” say that a habit is formed in 21 days. So this gives us 10 extra days to make sure it sticks.
And the word count should be doable. My goal is going to be 500-750 words a day. More on weekends–I want a 5K/week word total. But during the week, getting 500 words a day is a struggle. And that is 500 words on my WIP, not on my blogs.
My other goal for JanNoWriStart is just to keep writing. Push through, get the words on the page. No editing. As Anne Lamont says in Bird by Bird, get the shi**y first draft done. Now, as a dedicated plotter, that gives me two more weeks to get the scene cards set up in Scrivener. I did a lot of that prep for NaNo, so I will also use the time to reimmerse myself in the story.
2 weeks from today. JanNoWriStart. Who’s in?
Live to Write - Write to Live 
I am in and is thinking about rewrite my story anyway so guess it is a possible goal 😉
Great!
Oh, good luck! I’m thinking January is revision month for me. 🙂
BB
That works! It is part of writing, just needs different measurement. Good luck!
Count me in! I am right there with you in terms of being behind on the Christmas festivities. Christmas, this year, has taken a backseat to my writing. I will get to my Christmas shopping, but all I’ve been wanting to do lately is write, so I am going to go with that feeling for awhile :-).
Definitely go with that! I look forward to a few days off to get in the “zone”.
I was just thinking about a daily writing plan for my memoir. Woke up wondering if I could use the Scrivener app from my phone. I have it on my laptop.
I have a droid phone, so I don’t think it would work. I know that they are working on an iPad version, so could phones be far behind? Good luck!
Oh, true, because I have Scrivener on my MacBook! Linking the two is likely not feasible.
Hey Julie,
Thanks for this post! I love the idea of it, and your additional “rules.” I’m in! I’m thinking I might have a few 50 word days, but if I can just get something written on my novel every day, that would be spectacular!
Good luck and happy writing!
Warmly,
Diane
50 word days are more than 0 word days! Go Diane!!
I’m in! I didn’t discover NaNoWritMo until December 🙂 I signed up for next year (I guess), but am primed and ready now. Thanks so much for the prompt!
Great! Looking forward to hearing about your progress!
I have wanted to write a novel for a very long time, but life kept getting in the way. I have been writing for myself for close to 20 years, but with school, kids, work, life, I never really did it for public consumption. I recently started two blogs and have now gained a bit of confidence. January sounds like a great time to hunker down and get started.
Thanks for this nudge! I’m in! (Is this where I start to hyperventilate?)
Don’t hyperventilate! Starting is the hardest part–please jump in and join us in January. It is such a great journey to go on. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.
Hmmm, trying to get motivated – Anne’s advice is on target.
Absolutely on target. Have you read the book? Just terrific.
I’m in too. Actually, I think NaNoWriMo would suit most people more if they held it in January. You are a genius. 😉
Hardly a genius, just someone who needs a reboot. Glad you will be joining us!
Great idea, Julie. I’m in. 🙂
Yay! Looking forward to hearing how it goes.
I’m totally in! But I think I’ll be finishing my first draft in January instead of rewriting it. Is that allowed? 😛
I am more worried if my idea was allowed as I already have 2 chapters in my idea 🙂
Of course! Writing is writing. And finishing a first draft is a terrific goal!!
Good idea. Maybe it is time to dust off my novel and finish it.
Join us! Looks like it is going to be a great crowd.
I’m in 🙂
Terrific!
What a good idea, I may very well have a go at this!
Heather xxx
Terrific!
I already said I’m in. I completely bailed….thanks for this….I don’t want to be alone. It’s nice to know another person is doing this.
Looks like a few people think this is a good idea. Glad you will be joining us.
I’ll be doing a massive rewrite on my NaNo story and pushing out some other writing as well. Count me interested.
Terrific. Sounds like great projects.
Lol. I am definitely in. I started the first few chapters of my new book back in November, after some serious planning and then in December I got hammered with a ton of work. So now, with all of this work out of the way, I’ll be going back my novel. I think that this will get me more motivated to work on it. I have tried to write at least one thing a day however. That turned into writing 3 things a week other than on my blog. At least I’m still writing! 😀
Glad you will be joining us! And no “at least” about it. Writing is writing–let’s just both focus on our novels.
I am in! Wonderful idea and timing. I’m much more motivated to start fresh on a project in January than I am in November! I love how everyone is doing something different with their writing projects, too. I’m going to be working on blog posts and just getting pen to paper.
Sounds great! Here’s to January!
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Can I play too? I have stumbled and fallen during three separate NaNoWriMo — but it sure got me writing. Learning to set a daily word count sounds like a great goal for the month. And I hope the year.
Reblogged this on Trials of a wanna-be-published writer and commented:
I think this is a fantastic idea and I wanted to share it with all of my readers. Anyone interested in having a go at it too?
Ironic I find this. I was just thinking about what month I’d make my own NaNoWriMo. November always gets away from me. But I suppose if you set the goal, it doesn’t matter what month it happens. This sounds like a much more doable thing.
My writing Kickstarter passed its goal in only 12 hours! Want to check it out and maybe write a post about it?
Thanks! http://kck.st/19CwKW1
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