Post-Mortem: How I Wrote a Book in 30 Days — and Sold It

And everything else I learned from five National Novel Writing Months

Nov 01, 2023

Hi friends! Welcome to Post-Mortem — my newly revamped newsletter, where I dissect my successes, failures, and shenanigans for your learning and entertainment.

Up this month: National Novel Writing Month! If you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo is where emo teens and struggling wannabe writers (like me) write an entire 50,000 word novel in 30 days, during the month of November. I wrote the first draft of Acceptance during NanoWriMo 2015, which was published by Penguin Press in 2022, named a best book of the year by NPR, and recently translated into Chinese and Korean!

Maybe you’re planning on starting NaNo today, maybe you’re struggling to write anything.

Here’s what worked, and absolutely did not work for me, and here’s what I’m doing differently this year! (Yes, I’m doing it. Pray for me.)

Summary

2006-2010: High school. I did NaNoWrimo every year (except maybe senior year; I was so fucked up I can’t remember). Each year, I hit my 50,000 word writing goal! When I was 15 and miserable in foster care, I wrote 100,000 words. I never ever read or re-read any of these drafts. I have no idea what I wrote about, except that they included a lot of incorrect French, one was set in Seattle, and one featured a teen girl who believed she was Helen of Troy.

2015: A few months after I graduated college, I wrote the 50,000 words first draft of a memoir, Acceptance. It only took me seven years to edit it and get it published. (More on that later!)

Lead-up

I turned to NaNo because I wanted to be a writer, indeed, a serious author. You could struggle for years to write your first book — or you could hop on an internet fad that promises immediate gratification. The latter is much more my style!

I’ll never forget November 1, 2006: newly 14-year-old Emi found a meet-up online, took the city bus from school to the University of Minnesota student union, located a table full of nerds, and — equipped with my writing hat™ — promptly wrote 10,000 words. Was I taking Adderall? Yes. Was the rest of the book written from a hospital bed? Absolutely.

In 2015, I set out to write the memoir I’d been saying I’d write since high school. I took a goal setting course at work at the very start of the month, came home, and set a timer.

Warmed by fond memories of that warm glow right before you explode your life, I’m doing NaNoWriMo again. I want to write a novel. I have the plot, the characters, the setting, and a working title. I have tried to write one page a day alongside with other work, but I can’t multitask. And I need to lie to myself that it will be quick and easy. A friend of mine is running a great 90-day Novel program — but sorry, Donna, 90 days is too long! 30 days is all I can take.

Impact

Obviously, I published a book, but we’ll get back to that.

NaNoWriMo was how I learned discipline. In a time in my life when I could control very little — my family was messed up, I was hell-bent on self-destruction but struggling to meet that goal — I learned that I could sit my ass in a chair, or hospital bed, and meet my word count. That was the only power I had in my life. And it was an incredible power! I, with my middle-school after-school French skills, could write an entire book called On S’en Tire! (Please drop your best interpretation in the comments section.) I could conjure Seattle!

I learned to move my fingers, and keep moving them, which is writing.

Typing nonsense got me through some excruciating times. And it wasn’t always nonsense. When I sat down to write my serious memoir, I used exactly the same approach: just put shit on the page. When I had my 17th draft a million years later, I accidentally revisited the first draft and found, to my shock: I wrote the exact same sentences for many details, whether I was trying to churn out words or craft my chef d'oeuvre.

NaNo turned me into the writer I am, for better or worse. I write a lot of words, throw most of them away, and need to write a million drafts to get where I am going. It’s a great exercise for those who are reckless or who want to become more reckless. In my mom’s words, NaNo is the “quick and dirty” way of writing a novel.

What Worked

If you’re thinking of doing NaNo this year, do it!! Here are the things that helped me hit my goals:

A daily routine. You need to write 1,667 words a day to hit your goal. Historically, I either do this first thing in the morning (perhaps after some iced coffee and cold chicken eaten out of a ziploc bag) or right after work.
A timer. I timed myself and found that, eventually, I could hit my 1667 words in 45 minutes a day. This feels manageable and makes it easier to hit!

Make a bold start! You will never be as enthusiastic as you will be on November 1st!!! A strong first day gives you a lot of buffer later and takes away stress. Join me tomorrow for a coworking session (details below).
Writing hat. I wore a ridiculous hat whenever I was writing (and no other times). It got me into the right headspace (ha!). If you can handle smells, you could also try lighting a candle. Classical conditioning works, my friends!
Candy, I’m too old and insulin-resistant for this now, but as a kid I lined up three pieces of Halloween candy and ate one after 667 words, then 500 later, then when I was done.
A place to hide during Thanksgiving. If you can, set aside an hour each day during the holidays. It will feel good to have a bit of alone time, and you will be in the final stretch.
Block the internet. Here’s my favorite 10 ways to do this.
Tell everyone you’re doing it. EVERYONE. Otherwise you won’t do it.
Lie to yourself. This is going to be fun and easy!

Strategies to Reconsider

~~Writing random crap.~~ I mean, it hit the word count.
Adderall, caffeine, and other stimulants. This helps me write so much. But then the writing was bad. I was in love with my speed-fueled practice, which blinded me to the tedium of my obsessive details. I’m a better writer with my herbal tea, but I still miss it. Many people like weed gummies or magic mushroom chocolate! When I’m really stressed about writing something, sometimes I take a beta blocker.
Never revisiting the manuscript. After you finish your draft, do yourself a favor and read it sometime! Later this year, I’m going to see if maybe my teen work really is worth something!

What I’m Doing Different Next Time

When I get stuck, this year I’m going to try checking out the archives. I got this tip from the brilliant Maurice Carlos Ruffian. Since I’m writing a historical novel, I put together a folder of 1940s swimsuit pics to peak at when I need inspo.
Daily prompts. To prevent writing, “The grass was green like a hallucination,” I might try these writing prompts.

Editor that deletes your words if you stop writing. Thanks to Jen Winston for this suggestion!!

Do you have other suggestions?? Please drop them in the comments!!

Conclusion

Is Nano just one big waste of time? Well, isn’t writing? Yes, I got a book out of it. But I can’t stop thinking that maybe there was a more efficient way to do things. I’ve tried, and failed, to find that more efficient way.

Creating anything feels like a giant game of chess: if we could just get to where we wanted to go, it would be so fast and easy. Yet there are so many obstacles. At each moment, you really only have a few choices, some of which will take you backwards. You either play the game or you don’t. And I’m a sucker for the game.

Coworking Session

If you’re doing NaNo, join me TODAY from 2-4 pm EST for a zoom coworking session. At 2 pm we will set goals, work for nearly two hours, then check out at 3:55. Come get a running start with me!!

EDIT: Here’s the zoom link for today and for 11/8.

If you follow me on Substack, I’ll be announcing other coworking dates, prompts, and tips.

What are your best tips for getting shit done on a deadline? For NaNo? And say hi in the comments if you’re doing Nano so we can find buddies!

xoxo

Emi

P.S. Join me next time for a post-mortem of the thousands of hours I’ve spent on social media. Does Instagram help writers? Is it worth it? Did it make me want to die? Stay tuned.