Today marks day one of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2016! Every November, writers all over the world will try to write a 50,000-word novel in a 30-day period.
In 2015, 431,626 people took on the NaNoWriMo challenge. This year, the organizers have recruited published authors Daniel José Older, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Alexander Chee, Jenny Han, and Maggie Stiefvater to offer advice through weekly pep talks.
To help GalleyCat readers who are working on this daunting project, we will be presenting tips throughout the month. For today, we’ve rounded up six years’ worth of advice in a single post. We hope these 148 writing tools will be of help to all NaNoWriMo participants.
19 National Novel Writing Month Tips from 2015
NaNoWriMo Tip #2: Embrace the Discipline
NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Check Facebook
NaNoWriMo Tip #4: Be Your Own Assignment Editor
NaNoWriMo Tip #5: Read a Chapter From Your Favorite Book
NaNoWriMo Tip #6: Listen to Music
NaNoWriMo Tip #7: Try Method Acting
NaNoWriMo Tip #8: Collect Scraps
NaNoWriMo Tip #9: Go Cold Turkey From the Internet
NaNoWriMo Tip #10: Don’t Get Lost in the Woods
NaNoWriMo Tip #11: Boost Your Confidence
NaNoWriMo Tip #12: Keep Writing
NaNoWriMo Tip #13: Surprise Your Readers
NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Read Author Pep Talks
NaNoWriMo Tip #15: Write Your Ending
NaNoWriMo Tip #16: Think Like a Marathon Runner
NaNoWriMo Tip #17: Silence Your Inner Critic
NaNoWriMo Tip #18: Be Thankful That You Are Almost Done
NaNoWriMo Tip #19: Cross the Finish Line
19 National Novel Writing Month Tips from 2014
NaNoWriMo Tip #2: Get Some Pep
NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Plant Some Greenery On Your Desk
NaNoWriMo Tip #4: 3 Methods to Trigger Story Ideas
NaNoWriMo Tip #5: Start With a Memorable Introduction
NaNoWriMo Tip #6: Get Comfortable With Telling Lies
NaNoWriMo Tip #7: Always Carry a Notepad
NaNoWriMo Tip #8: Follow The Hero’s Journey
NaNoWriMo Tip #9: Banish Away Self-Doubt
NaNoWriMo Tip #10: 3 Ways to Tackle Writer’s Block
NaNoWriMo Tip #11: 3 Ways to Use Dramatic Irony
NaNoWriMo Tip #12: Harness the Power of Simple Words
NaNoWriMo Tip #13: Practice Positive Psychology
NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Pare Down the Distractions
NaNoWriMo Tip #15: Consult Cheat Sheets
NaNoWriMo Tip #16: Write What You Don’t Know
NaNoWriMo Tip #17: 3 Skills to Help With Writing Dialogue
NaNoWriMo Tip #18: Use Strong Metaphors
NaNoWriMo Tip #19: Keep The Reader’s Perspective in Mind
NaNoWriMo Tip #20: Learn From 5 Established Authors
20 National Novel Writing Month Tips from 2013
NaNoWriMo Tip #1: Establish a Writing Schedule
NaNoWriMo Writing Tip #2: Create an Outline
NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Create a Character Outline
NaNoWriMo Tip #4: Establish a Setting
NaNoWriMo Tip #5: Develop Your Novel’s Plot
NaNoWriMo Tip #6: Don’t Think Like an Editor (Yet)
NaNoWriMo Tip #7: Develop Your Protagonist
NaNoWriMo Tip #8: Don’t Check Your Email
NaNoWriMo Tip #9: Make a Soundtrack For Your Book
NaNoWriMo Tip #10: Work on Point of View
NaNoWriMo Tip # 11: Assign Yourself a Word Count
NaNoWriMo Tip #12: Take a Walk
NaNoWriMo Tip #13: Save Your Work
NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Read a Chapter of Your Favorite Author’s Book
NaNoWriMo Tip #15: Listen to the Advice of the National Book Awards Nominees
NaNoWriMo Tip #16: Invent Names For Your Characters
NaNoWriMo Tip #17: Listen to the Advice of Great Authors
NaNoWriMo Tip #18: Drink Some Coffee
NaNoWriMo Tip #19: Power Write Through The Holiday Weekend
NaNoWriMo Tip # 20: Don’t Be Self-Critical
30 National Novel Writing Month Tips from 2012
NaNoWriMo Tip #1: How Stephen King Writes Imagery
NaNoWriMo Tip #2: Use Free Google Docs Tools
NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Write Like Hilary Mantel
NaNoWriMo Tip #4: Get Off The Internet
NaNoWriMo Tip #5: Submit Your NaNoWriMo Novel to Avon Impulse
NaNoWriMo Tip #6: 25 Writing Prompts to Inspire Twitter Fiction
NaNoWriMo Tip #7: Check Your Grammar Online
NaNoWriMo Tip #8: Why You Should Write By Hand
NaNoWriMo Tip #9: Tools to Outline Your Novel
NaNoWriMo Tip #10: Use deviantART for Inspiration
NaNoWriMo Tip #11: Read Two Years’ Worth of Advice in a Single Post
NaNoWriMo Tip #12: Use WriteChain to Track Your Progress
NaNoWriMo Tip #13: Get Figment Writing Prompts
NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Turn Your Browser into a Typewriter
NaNoWriMo Tip #15: Fake Name Generator for Writers
NaNoWriMo Tip #16: Get Writer’s Digest Giveaways
NaNoWriMo Tip # 17: Answer Twitter Questions
NaNoWriMo Tip #18: Write with the 1,000 Most Common Words
NaNoWriMo Tip #19: Visit Your Genre Lounge
NaNoWriMo Tip #20: Best Writing Music of 2012
NaNoWriMo Tip #21: How To Find a Writing Partner
NaNoWriMo Tip #22: Try the Cut-Up Machine
NaNoWriMo Tip #23: Dial 911 for Writer’s Block
NaNoWriMo Tip #24: Explore a Genre Mind Map
NaNoWriMo Tip #25: Try the Random Line Generator
NaNoWriMo Tip #26: How To Create an Anti-Hero
NaNoWriMo Tip #27: Have a Literary Drink
NaNoWriMo Tip #28: Get Some Exercise
NaNoWriMo Tip # 29: Plot Bank for Writers
NaNoWriMo Tip #30: Don’t Forget To Edit
30 National Novel Writing Month Tips from 2011
NaNoWriMo Tip #1: Take the Random Cliche Test
NaNoWriMo Tip #2: Use the Reference Desk
NaNoWriMo Tip #4: Make a Mind Map
NaNoWriMo Tip #5: Reward Yourself
NaNoWriMo Tip #6: Seek Figment Support
NaNoWriMo Tip #7: Download Seven Free Writing eBooks
NaNoWriMo Tip #8: Get a Literary Butt-Kicking
NaNoWriMo Tip #9: Write What You DON’T Know
NaNoWriMo Tip #10: Fight a Word War
NaNoWriMo Tip #11: Write in the Same Place
NaNoWriMo Tip #12: Download the Free Writing Cheatsheet
NaNoWriMo Tip #13: “Obvious to you. Amazing to others.”
NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Listen to Spotify: NaNoWriMo Tip #14
NaNoWriMo Tip #15: Read 30 Tips from Last Year
NaNoWriMo Tip #16: Consult a Plot Doctor
NaNoWriMo Tip #17: Fix Your Computer Screen Color
NaNoWriMo Tip #18: Join the Typewriter Brigade
NaNoWriMo Tip #19: Fill Out a Character Chart
NaNoWriMo Tip #20: Meet Your Deadline with Kittens
NaNoWriMo Tip #21: Use the Symbolitron
NaNoWriMo Tip #22: Make a Spreadsheet
NaNoWriMo Tip #23: Explore the World with Globe Genie
NaNoWriMo Tip #24: Write with Your Neighbors
NaNoWriMo Tip #25: Try Communal World Building
NaNoWriMo Tip #26: Write by Hand
NaNoWriMo Tip #27: Adopt an Idea
NaNoWriMo Tip #28: Explore the Onomatopoeia Dictionary
NaNoWriMo Tip #29: Swap Your Novel
NaNoWriMo Tip #30: Keep Writing Every Day
30 National Novel Writing Month Tips from 2010
NaNoWriMo Tip #1: Write in the Cloud
NaNoWriMo Tip #2: ‘Don’t Finish.’
NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Cliche Finder Stops Cliches Before They Start
NaNoWriMo Tip #4: Take the Fantasy Novelist’s Exam
NaNoWriMo Tip #5: Use a Name Generator
NaNoWriMo Tip #6: Seek Library Write-In Support
NaNoWriMo Tip #7: Consult Role Playing Game Plots
NaNoWriMo Tip #8: Best Pandora Stations for Writing
NaNoWriMo Tip #9: Use the Brainstormer App
NaNoWriMo Tip #10: Dictate Your Novel Draft
NaNoWriMo Tip #11: Use Foursquare for Inspiration
NaNoWriMo Tip #12: ‘Failure Instructs the Writer’
NaNoWriMo Tip #13: Use the Online Graphical Dictionary
NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Write ‘TK’ for Missing Facts
NaNoWriMo Tip #15: ‘Everyone Has a Certain Amount of Bad Writing to Get Out of Their System’
NaNoWriMo Tip #16: Use a Plot Diagram Tool
NaNoWriMo Tip #17: Test Your Characters
NaNoWriMo Tip #18: Use the Reverse Dictionary
NaNoWriMo Tip #19: Use Correct Writing Posture
NaNoWriMo Tip #20: Start a Writing Bible
NaNoWriMo Tip #21: ‘It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon’
NaNoWriMo Tip #22: Use Your Smartphone for Novel Writing & Editing
NaNoWriMo Tip #23: Turn Your Computer Into a Typewriter
NaNoWriMo Tip #24: Use Write or Die for Motivation
NaNoWriMo Tip #25: Relax with a Literary Drink
NaNoWriMo Tip #26: Browse BibliOdyssey for Inspiration
NaNoWriMo Tip #27: World of Warcraft Procrastinator Support
NaNoWriMo Tip #28: Request a Free Book Cover