Making it to 50,000 - Stay on track

It’s already five days in to November, and that means five days into NaNoWriMo. According to the statistics provided by the official website, that means we should all have 8,335 words by the end of the day to stay on track for a grand total of 50,000 on November 30th. I’m sure some of you are below that count, and some are probably a lot higher too.

The topic of today’s post, why this number is not a proper unit of measurement.

We all have different lifestyles, and I would safely wager that most of you cannot devote a large amount of time every day to writing. For me, I am out of the house pretty consistantly on weekends. I live in New York and am either at museums or eating out or helping friends with photo shoots; it’s a lifestyle I want to maintain, even in November. I’m sure you all have your own things you do on a regular basis that take time away on certain days where you could otherwise be writing. That’s why I think you should

Set your own goals.

I considered this when I started the month, and came up with a new count. I realized that I would only be writing on weekdays throughout November, so I did a quick calculation and found that I have to complete 2,381 words every day. Not an impossible task, but it is definately more than 1,667!

Additionally, you never know when life will throw you a curve ball and make a day you normally use to write completely filled with activity that makes it impossible to keep up your count, so it’s a good idea to

Give yourself insurance

I do this by striving to maintain a count for one day ahead of the current day I am on. This way if I suddenly have to miss a day of writing, it’s okay because I’ve already done that day’s work!

What are your tips and tricks for making it to 50,000? Are you a seasoned NaNo-er that has proven methods or someone new who is trying a technique for the first time? Share your own experiences and suggestions in the comments.