What I Learned from Writing 50,000 Words in 30 Days

I spent the last month – also known as national novel writing month, NaNoWriMo – writing 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days. What an amazing project!

I haven't written nearly that amount of fiction since I was in college, over six years ago. I experienced a huge breakthrough in creative expression by making time for my creativity. I also came away with some lessons that are useful to anyone coming to the end of 2020 and thinking about goals for 2021. You might already be psyching yourself out around what it's going to take to fulfill them, in which case this blog is for you.

As I mentioned, NaNoWriMo is a challenge. The theoretical notion is to write at least a first draft of an entire novel in a single, 30-day period. If a novel is considered 50,000 words (about 150 pages), I did not write a novel. I want to be really transparent about that. I like short fiction, so I wrote a series of short stories about different characters, motifs, and themes over 30 days.

How does this relate to coaching? Let’s talk about the four key things that it took to reach my goal.

Commitment

The number one thing it took to complete NaNoWriMo was a commitment, because as I've mentioned, I haven't written like that since college. Even though I have a degree in creative writing, I had spent a lot of years really stuck on the belief that, “I'm not a writer. I'm not creative. That's not for me anymore. Anything I create has to be in the self-help space because I work in the self-help space.”

So, the number one thing I needed to take on this challenge was the mindset that this project was worthy of me and that I was worthy of it. This is valuable because if you have a goal right now – in your leadership, in your business, in your personal life – I need to ask: Do you see it as possible or feasible for you? Is it a goal that you truly believe is worth your time and energy?

If you don't, that's an important place to start. But if you’re already super clear that this is what you want, amazing work. That’s the hardest part.

Structure

The second thing that I needed was structure. NaNoWriMo actually has an app where you can track the number of words that you write each day, with flowcharts of whether or not you’re on target. I’m not saying you necessarily need a spreadsheet, but once you're clear on your goal, what structures do you need to support your work?

For example, if you have a goal in your leadership, are you setting up weekly or monthly or daily meetings with your leader, your manager, or someone who can provide feedback on how it's going and whether you're achieving your goal? Do you keep a clear and organized calendar? Do you have teammates who hold you accountable to your word? What are the support structures that you've put in place to make this goal happen?

Partnership

This relates to the third thing that I needed, which was partnership. I turned to some of my good friends, Vicky and Henna, and I said, “I really want to do this.” And they wanted to do it, too, so they became my support structure. Not only did they hold me accountable, but they were also the place that I got to go when I just didn't feel like doing it or was being hard on myself or was really tired or had other plans… etc.

In other words, their partnership served as not only the accountability that I needed, but as a space where I was emboldened and motivated by other people who wanted the same things as I did.

Let's use a personal life example. Do you want to meet someone and settle down with them in 2021? Are you surrounded by people who still want to be hooking up on Grindr? Are you surrounded by the people that are up to the same thing that you are?

I don't mean to diss the people that you're around, but what I find is that there's a special momentum that comes from surrounding yourself with people who are committed to the same thing that you're committed to.

If that's not you right now, where can you find those people? Is it joining a gym? Is it finding a dating group? Is it signing up for a coaching group? Is it a book club?

For me, it was a Facebook chat. Where are you going to find “your people” who have the same passion for what you’re up to?

Grace with Myself

Last, but certainly not least, what I needed for my NaNoWriMo experience to be a success was a lot of grace with myself.

What I’ve learned about art is that it's really wacky to try to control where the art is going to go. Art doesn't actually work that way.

This is a great metaphor for life – because we can have goals and ambitions, but it's a little ridiculous to assume that we can perfectly control exactly how our goals will unfold, be received, and be delivered. It requires a lot of grace with the process.

You can really see it with my own process. There were days that I blew my 1,500-words/day goal out of the water. Creativity just flowed through my body and I could write 4,000 words with no problems. But for a couple of days in November, my total word count was maybe 100 words/day. In fact, there was even one day that I wrote one sentence just to say that I at least wrote a sentence for that day.

If I was someone who was obsessed with hitting the target every single day, I would have folded under that pressure. But I knew that at the very least, I met my goal of logging 30 consistent days of writing.

Writing 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days taught me to know why I was doing it. It taught me to believe that I was worthy of my goal. It also taught me that it’s so necessary to create tons of structure, accountability, and community. I needed to surround myself with other people who were just as passionate about pursuing a similar endeavor, and I needed to lift them up and have them lift me up.

Lastly, I needed to practice tons of grace. It's important to have goals and know where you're going, but it's equally as important to not be attached to exactly how you arrive at the outcome.

I’m looking forward to my next 50,000 word sprint. Tell me: What goals are you going after in 2021? And how can I support you?