How Setting Yourself a Writing Challenge Will Help You Get Sh1t Done!

November is National Novel Writing Month -  NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is an international movement to encourage budding wordsmiths to spend a focussed period of time, working on a book. 

The idea is to write 50,000 words in a month, which translates to roughly 1,600 words a day. 

A tall order and a tough challenge. 

You have to be committed to write that many words every day. You need a plan, you need discipline and you need to not faff around self-editing as you go! The idea is just to let the words come, stream of consciousness. It’s the one time when quantity trumps quality, because the point of the exercise is to get the words out of your head an onto the page, so you can do something with them. 

I’ve successfully completed the challenge twice. 

Once in 2013 when I started writing my second book, Solomon’s Secrets and once in 2015 when I was writing my 4th book Gabriel's Game, Part 2: The Black Knight.

After writing and publishing the four novels of the Sheridan and Blake series in quick succession over four years, I’ve not started a new fiction project for around 18 months. 

Most of my writing in 2016 and 2017 has been non-fiction, blogs, content and training materials as I have built up my Amy Morse consultancy business. 

However, one of my goals for 2018 is to publish another fiction book. 

I shared some tips in a previous blog on planning and executing a successful NaNoWriMo, based on my experience with my books, but NaNo has not been my only writing challenge. 

I completed and published my first book, The Bronze Box in 2013 as part of a 365 project – I did one thing a day for a whole year towards my goal of publishing a book. 

That was how I started blogging (read the story here) But I have also done a 'mini nano' in August and shared my tips in another blog. 

It’s time I took on another writing challenge. 

I recently read an article by Marc Guberti about banking a year’s worth of blog content. It’s inspired me to get ahead of myself for 2018 and really nail my content marketing for my Amy Morse, Write Your Way To Success consultancy business. 

The secret to completing any writing challenge is to break it down into manageable steps. 

50,000 words sounds a lot in 30 days (and it is). But when you break it down, 1,600 words a day

sounds more manageable. 

Writing a book is a big deal but really, it's just one word after another...

When you break it down further, that’s 2 stints a day of writing 800 words. 

You can write 800 words in an hour if you focus and put your mind it. 
 
(More if you voice transcribe it!)

So, 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon and boom, you’ve written your 1,600 words. 

So, how does writing a year’s worth of blog content break down? 

I’m going to set my deadline as the end of the year. 

That gives me just under 2 months. 

I need 24 articles – 2 blogs a month and I’ll also write some ad hoc content in between, and continue to host guests so I can publish a blog every week. 

In my coaching practice with businesses, I recommend minimum 1 blog a month, working up to once a week. 

As a seasoned blogger and writing coach, I’ll be sticking to my routine of weekly blogging. 

So, we have 6 weeks until the end of the year, 24 blogs. That’s 4 blogs a week. 

I’m going to draft these blogs; they won’t be finished, so, I will draft them, then polish them as and when I publish (the chances are, I’ll probably want to change them on the day I publish them anyway). 

If we say an average blog is 800 words, which takes me an hour to bash out in draft form, that’s 24 hours of work. 

Let’s say, 4 hours a week or 1 hour 4 times a week. 

So, twice a week, I need to allow 2 hours for writing, for example, an hour Tuesday morning and afternoon then an hour Thursday Morning and afternoon. 

Or, I could write one article a day and easily have enough content written by the end of the year, but realistically, there will be days when I won’t find time to write as I have a busy schedule, especially in November. 

Another option, and I enjoy doing from time to time, is to take writing retreat days. 

I take myself off to somewhere for the day with the intention of just writing. 

I go to a hotel or a coffee shop and pitch camp for the day. 

It’s important to plan ahead and decide in advace what the goal for the day will be. 

However, experience has taught me that if I don't write regularly, and then try to cram it in a day, it rarely works out. 

For me, a combination of some regular, short stints of writing and a couple of chunks of time where I just write, is the most manageable and productive combination. 

So, my plan is to write a couple of times a week, plus have a couple of retreat days.

24 blog articles in 6 weeks - could you do that? 

Tell me in the comments, or select a letter...

a) Hell yeah! That's easy, I write every day!

b) If I made a plan, I could pull it off!

c) Maybe... I might need a kick up the backside to do it, though!

d) Maybe... but I'd get stuck for ideas!

e) No way! I'd never fit it in!

A Step-by-Step NaNo Plan

August didn't quite go according to plan.

Back in July, I pledged to myself I would spend August writing.
So confident was I, that I blogged about it HERE.

Then, the phone calls trickled in from potential clients. Instead, my month evolved into booking work in through my Amy Morse, Authorpreneur business.

I went from expectations of long days chained to my computer, to being outside in the sunshine walking between appointments, or hours sat in coffee shops and the Desklodge hotdesking space coaching clients through their social media, content marketing, and book building challenges.

While it was great for my bank balance, my suntan, and my portfolio as a business - it was less good for my fiction writing plans.

With the momentum continuing into a busy September, finding a regular writing routine has fallen to

the bottom of the 'to do' list.

I sometimes feel like a fraud; preaching to my clients to jealously protect time in their diary to sit and write while I continue to not follow my own advice!

I need to get my fiction writing mojo back and reboot that momentum.

I broke the back of Solomon's Secrets and Gabriel's Game, Part 1: The White Queen participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2014 and 15 respectively, I should keep the tradition alive and do the same for 'Finding the Scream' this November.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) - often shortened to just 'NaNo' - It's a movement started way back in 2006 in San Francisco that has become a global writing phenomenon. Each year the community is growing as thousands of budding writers across the globe participate in a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month.

If you've been promising yourself you'd write a book for years, or you have an idea for a book and need a boost to get it going, NaNo is for you. Sign up and create an account for free and access a massive community, both on and offline, of fellow wordsmiths who can support you in your quest.




There's just under a month to go, and my key piece of advice for anyone starting a book on 1st November is to plan ahead. 

In both cases, I had a rough plan and structure for my books.

We all have different approaches to the book writing marathon.

For all of my fiction titles to date, I write the first chapter, the last chapter and the key scenes that need to happen, usually in a non-linear way. I then plot them out with sticky notes and stitch them together with other scenes and characters until eventually, my protagonist finds their way from A to B through a coherent plot and narrative.

Apparently, this is how many action movies (certainly the Bond films) are written; start with the big action set pieces, then weave the plot in afterwards. Sometimes it's really obvious when you watch a movie that's all action and flimsy plot.

When it comes to books, I've never been a fan of literary fiction. I love a good story with lots happening, so even though I consciously use this scene by scene approach, I'm mindful throughout that I not only want to create believable and emotionally compelling characters, I also want there to be a great story flowing through my books.

Part of what's making me approach 'Finding the Scream' so hesitantly is that I don't know how it will end, and I'm still figuring out what those big set pieces will be.

Apparently, Lee Child, doesn't know how his books will end when he starts writing them. 

I keep telling myself that I should just trust my characters and my experience from writing seven novels and publishing four of them. I need to just get on with it and see where the story takes me.

I have a vague idea of what will happen to Katarina Orlov throughout the book and I have a concept and a few scene ideas. I've already written the first chapter and a few other big chunks of disjointed text that are yet to connect together.

Here's a flavour of it:

The NaNoWriMo website is packed with tools, tips and articles to help you on your way, including some NaNo prep resources, however, here are my tips to help you use October efficiently as an opportunity to plan your NaNo book:




Start planning early to build some momentum and anticipation behind your project. By the end of October, you'll be all fired up to get cracking and can start with a confidence-building sprint.

Set aside time. At the start of October, go through your diary for November and block out time every day to write. Protect that time. Don't be tempted to fill it with other things. If an appointment has to clash with your designated writing time, replace it for a different time that day. You need to write an average of 1,667 words a day to meet the 50,000 target so any day missed adds extra pressure to another day.

Communicate. Tell your partner, kids, friends, colleagues etc. as soon as possible that you'll be dedicating time to writing in November. Be clear with them, that way they are more likely to respect the time you have set aside for the project; plus, it also gives you a sense of accountability. Once you start telling people, you can bet your backside they'll ask throughout November how the book is coming on - surely, you'll want to be smug and tell them how well it's going, instead of admitting defeat?



Write it down. We can go around fooling ourselves that we have a plan for the book in our heads,

but when it comes down to doing it that simply isn’t good enough. When your plan is written down it becomes a firm commitment to yourself that you'll do it. It makes life a lot easier when you do sit and write, that way you won't be distracted from writing by trying to remember something. Once it's written down, you can also see quickly whether the plan makes sense and where any plot holes may be. 

To help, download my simple ‘One Page Novel Plan’ HERE


Good luck with the book. 
Comment below to tell me how it's going...


If you found these tips useful, buy me a coffee to say thank you.

£2.50 will get me a cappuccino! 
Thanks :)