How to Win Nano with a 40-Hour Work Week

It seems like there’s never enough time as a writer, especially working full-time. Don’t worry though, as NaNo guest Brittany Bustos shares her secrets for managing NaNo and her 40-hour workweek:

I know there are many of us out there, people who love to write but spend forty hours of their week in an office, not being able to set aside time to work on their project. Thankfully, I’m lucky to have a wonderful support system at home and through trial and error, have created a list of tips for those who are curious about Nanowrimo, but fear that their day job will mean they won’t have enough time. 

1. Set aside a dedicated time to write. 

This can be bright and early at 6 in the morning or as late as 10 at night. But make a dedicated time every single day of November to work. And try your hardest to use that time for only Nano. Emily from the LA region uses an alarm as a reminder to write every day, and I think that is a great idea to keep yourself accountable. Even if your workday is stressful and busy, set aside time to write. It might even be that stress reliever you needed after a long day.

2. Try sprinting to get a lot of words in a little time. 

Sprinting in writing is similar to how you picture a runner sprinting - it’s when you write continuously, as much as you can in a set amount of time. You go fast. I’ve written over 500 words in 15 minutes during a sprint. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “But how can I process thoughts when I’m focused on typing?” And truthfully, you don’t. You let your stream of consciousness put the words on the page. And try as hard as you can to ignore the backspace button. Your focus is to get words on a draft, editing can come later! 

3. Try and come prepared with a general plan of what you’re going to work on.

 When you are fishing for time to write, there’s not much time to sit and think. If you are a planner or pantser or somewhere in between, I encourage you to jot down your “game plan” for what you are going to work on after a session of writing so that you can easily jump into your project the next day. 

4. “Get out of your head. Don’t overthink it, don’t ponder and stew. Write.” – Julie, ML, Los Angeles region. 

I love this advice from one of my community friends to round out this list. At the end of it all, November is a time to draft. Not draft and hope it’s ready for publication in December. Just draft. You don’t have a lot of time to think or reconsider, you need to get all of your ideas out now. Once November ends, you can do whatever you please in terms of editing and finishing, but your ultimate goal for November is to write 50,000 words and have some fun along the way. So if you are writing a sentence but second guessing if it truly belongs, then come back to it another time and add those words as a part of your goal for the month. 

There you go! Four tips that will help you win Nanowrimo with a busy schedule. I know it might sound daunting, but Nanowrimo has helped me so much with relieving stress after a long workday, I couldn’t imagine a month without it. And if you are unsure if you will make the time, reach out to your region’s MLs to find a write-in that works well with your schedule. 

Brittany Bustos (@helloimbea) is a writer from the California, East Bay region. She has participated in Nano since 2019 and loves to write Young Adult and Romance. She has previously published poetry and plays through academic and local publications. When not participating in Nanowrimo and Camp Nanowrimo, she is constantly reading (to find out what she reads you can follow her Bookstagram @brittmariereadshere) and spending time with her partner and cat, Princess Peach.

Top Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash