How one fantasy author used NaNoWriMo to launch her first series
If Emma Elizabeth was the main character in a novel, NaNoWriMo would be the catalyst to her journey as an author. Like any good catalyst, NaNoWriMo shoved her out of her comfort zone and caused all kinds of chaos before Emma published her first novel in a fantasy romance series.
But we’re getting ahead of the story, here.
Fantasy romance author Emma Elizabeth writes stories with LGBTQIA+ representation and “badass women.”
In October 2023, Emma sat down in her home office where she spends her days as a project manager. But as her fingertips reached for the familiar keyboard, she felt a thrum of nerves. Instead of opening a spreadsheet or checking her email, she began planning her first novel.
She didn’t consider herself a writer, but lately she had started wondering, why not? She’d enjoyed writing in college but hadn’t tried writing fiction. “Writing made me uncomfortable because it’s a vulnerable type of creativity,” recalls Emma. “I decided the fact that it made me uncomfortable meant I should do it.”
Two writer friends introduced her to the idea of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and emboldened her to participate. “The timing felt serendipitous,” Emma says.
A note on NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is a creative writing challenge where participants aim to draft a 50,000-word novel in the month of November.
The official challenge is run by a nonprofit organization. But before we go further, I want to acknowledge how the NaNoWriMo organization’s recent moves have caused it to lose trust within the writing community through a controversial AI policy and child safety concerns (feel free to do your own research and form your own opinions).
It makes me sad to know that the actions of a few could party-poop on the creative writing efforts of many. So to be clear, this article is in support of writers getting together to make magical things happen.
“You don't have to support NaNoWriMo as an organization to do something like this for your writing,” says Emma. “It’s still powerful when a bunch of writers get together and work toward their goals.”
Preparing to write a novel in a month
In October, Emma jotted down a brief roadmap of major plot points and general character sketches so she could focus on writing in November. While this preparation is by no means mandatory, Emma knew it would help her.
“The whole point is to keep writing,” says Emma. “I wanted to do everything I could to prepare myself to keep going and not stop.”
She used the story beats from Save the Cat! Writes a Novel to guide her plot. “I placed the guideposts for emotional punchlines. Everything in between was up to my characters to tell me how we went from point A to point B.”
Getting words on the page
You might think it would be hard to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. And you would be right.
In typical project manager fashion, Emma created a spreadsheet that auto-calculated her daily word count goals based on her progress.
The good days felt great. But the days when she missed her word count started to pile up.
“The community of NaNoWriMo is a blessing and curse,” says Emma. “It’s really cool that all these people are doing something awesome at the same time. It’s also really hard to have a bad day when I couldn’t do it but I saw everyone else posting about their success.”
Whenever she fell short of her daily goal, the spreadsheet distributed those extra words among the remaining days. As time went on, her daily word count goals inched impossibly higher.
“Within a week it became painfully clear that having a number looming over me like that was detrimental to my creative process,” says Emma. “I was micromanaging myself.”
By November’s end, she had written about 20,000 words and promptly quit writing for six weeks. The intensity of the challenge burned her out, and she “needed to disassociate for a while.”
But she didn’t leave it there. After a break, she came back and finished writing her first novel, completing a self-edit in March 2024 before working with an editor.
Learning about her creative process
Every writer works differently. Some are plotters while others are pantsers. Some prefer mornings while others find inspiration at night. It takes time—not to mention trial and error—to discover your ideal writing practice.
“I started with good intentions and learned about myself as a writer,” Emma says. Here are some lessons she learned quickly through the condensed timeline of NaNoWriMo:
Deadlines and goals: She writes better with a single, big deadline instead of tracking daily goals. Sometimes she goes days or weeks without writing; other times she writes half her story in two days.
Outlining and planning: Emma has since become a much more aggressive outliner. “I get excited to think through each scene and how they connect,” she says. “Outlines help me write more efficiently.”
Writing rituals: Emma tried to follow a formal ritual at first that included sitting in a specific spot in her office. “It was a little too prescriptive for me,” she says. “Now, if I’m just sitting on the couch, I can grab my laptop and write for a few minutes.”
It’s no surprise that writing a novel in one month isn’t the ideal creative process. It’s a challenge meant to shake things up and help you make significant progress—all while learning about what works best for your writing process the other eleven months of the year.
Emma’s tips for writing a messy first draft during NaNoWriMo
The spirit of NaNoWriMo is to get the messy first draft on paper. And by messy, I mean monstrously so. It can be Swiss-cheesed with plot holes, use “tall guy” for a character name, and gorge itself on grammatical errors. None of that matters at this stage.
“It is so difficult to just keep going as a new writer, to not look back,” says Emma. Her brain snagged on fantasy worldbuilding inconsistencies and went down deep research rabbit holes. “Just get comfortable with the fact that your first draft is going to be heinous. Don’t get stuck.”
Here are some of Emma’s tips on how to write a messy first draft:
Use placeholders. Don’t feel like you need to write every single scene if you’re getting stuck. [And then they execute a brilliant plan] is an acceptable placeholder until you come back to work on draft two.
Stop self-editing. Editing is not the same as writing. They are two distinct mindsets. Writing is creative expression. Editing involves anticipating another person perceiving your work. You can't edit something you haven't finished, so keep writing and don't look back. If you need to, add a comment and come back to it later.
Plan for bad days. It’s possible that you won’t hit 100% of your goals for thirty uninterrupted days. When that happens, plan to give yourself a bit of grace before picking up the next day. Instead of failure, it becomes an expected part of the process. It’s not all or nothing.
Participate in your own way. You can tell people and post about it on social media or you can quietly participate. You can follow the NaNoWriMo challenge to the letter or create your own goal, like writing daily no matter the word count. There are many ways you can have a transformative month of writing.
Emma turned NaNoWriMo into a year-round writing practice
You won’t find Emma joining NaNoWriMo this fall—and for good reason. Her own writing goals have eclipsed this month-long challenge.
After the October 2024 launch of her first book, Mistress of Hours, she is continuing the series with novellas and more full-length novels. “I am prioritizing my next book and my publishing schedule this year,” Emma says.
Writing, which used to feel uncomfortable for her, has become a regular habit. “I’m really glad I tried NaNoWriMo because I learned so much about myself and my writing process,” she says. “I’m writing all the time now.”
Find your writing catalyst
We all need to be pushed out of our comfort zones now and then. Otherwise, life stays the same.
That idea for a novel languishes fragmented and formless in your mind. You wonder if you could become a writer, or an even better one. That manuscript gathers digital dust, and a reader never discovers their favorite book.
Is it time for your own inciting incident? Maybe you want to participate in a writing challenge like NaNoWriMo to kickstart your writing habit. Perhaps you want something smaller like a daily writing prompt or to join a local writer’s group.
If you already have a manuscript, working with an editor could be the next step you need to publish the best version of your story. Contact me if you’re ready to get a little bit more serious about this dream of yours.
