Getting Started and Keeping Going with NaNoWriMo

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Inkstacks, a 2021 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a project-based platform and award-winning book featuring a Guided Path for writers. Today, long-time Wrimo and Inkstacks CEO Kimberly Cooper Griffin is here to share some tips for getting started with your novel:

Hello, fellow NaNoWriMo Writers!

This year marks my 10th anniversary of being a NaNoWriMo participant and previous winner. What a journey it has been. I started as an aspiring writer, and now I’m a published author with eight titles available and five others in the pipeline. And it all started with NaNoWriMo!

As most participants do, I started on Day One with an idea and the motivation to complete 50K words in 30 days, and with the wonderful encouragement provided by the team at NaNoWriMo, I did it. I slammed down all those words and then some. It was a thrilling experience and it proved to me I could do it—and I’ve done it multiple times since.

Looking back on that first year in 2011, the first thing that comes to mind is how much I’ve learned in the last ten years, and I wonder what I would have done differently knowing what I know now. 

It came down to planning, which would have gotten me off to a stronger start; and transforming, because I didn’t know what to do with my beautiful new manuscript once I came down off of my NaNoWriMo winner’s high. Believe me, the high I had when I hit 50K was intense! As you can see, I’m still NaNoWriMo-ing 10 years later and I have no intention of breaking this particular addiction.

There you have it, my writer friends. I want to talk to you about:

Getting started and keeping going

It all comes down to planning and transformation.

Planning

A good foundation results in a strong story, and each of the elements of writing cobbled together creates a beautiful structure.

Taking time in the beginning to figure out a few key elements such as point of view, main plot points, and basic character aspects will not only help you get off to a strong start, it will help you power through the often difficult period in the middle when you’re trying to figure out what comes next.

Inkstacks has created eight simple worksheets to help any writer quickly set up the foundation of their project.

Go here to get your FREE WORKSHEETS and get a strong start on your NaNoWriMo project.

Transforming

Rewrites are where the magic happens.

For some writers, rewrites are the bane of their existence. They’ve written the story, and the last thing they want to do is write it again, and again, and…again. But, I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be awful. In fact, rewrites are my favorite part of writing. I get to see the beauty and emotion of my words emerge and weave together to make a good story into a more powerful and evocative story.

There’s a reason why the first ‘go through’ is called the ugly first draft. Like an artist creating a work of art, there are layers to your masterpiece. In the beginning there is the first sketch, and then there’s the blocking, and finally comes the definition and details. Rewrites bring out the impact of the work, taking a great idea and making it brilliant. To me, there is no better accomplishment as a writer than to take a handful of common words and transform them into a meaningful and clever sentence that carries my voice and imagination beyond the confines of a page.

When you get to the end of your NaNoWriMo month and you have your winning 50K words, Inkstacks would be honored to help you transform your ugly first draft into the magical manuscript you want it to be.

Go here to get your Magical Rewrites Project. 

Plus, all NaNoWriMo participants can receive 25% off all Inkslinger products by entering NANOWRIMO21 into the coupon code field in the Inkstacks webstore!

Your words are magic and the world needs your story.

Best of luck and early congratulations on making your dream come true.

With writerly love,

Kimberly Cooper Griffin
CEO Inkstacks – For Writers

Kimberly Cooper Griffin is a software engineer and an award-winning author. Her career in technology has spanned three decades, including work at several successful startups that have made it to the Fortune 500. With a breadth of experience that focuses on customer success, she has woven together her solutions-based mindset, technical aptitude, and a passion for writing to co-found Inkstacks.