 Hello, hello, writers. I'm Kristin Kiefer, author of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources, and you are listening to the Well-Sturried podcast, where I share insights, encouragement, and actionable advice designed to help you craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, always in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to writing, of course. Ready for the show? Let's get talking. Hello again, writers. Today is Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018, and you are listening to the Well-Sturried podcast. I'm your host, Kristin Kiefer, and today's episode is titled Eight Reasons to Participate in Nano Remo. If you would like to read along as you listen in, simply visit well-sturried.com-participate. Now let's dive in. Want to challenge yourself to write with consistency and commitment? Consider joining this year's Nano Remo Challenge. Short for National Novel Writing Month, this annual event challenges participants to write 50,000 words of fiction in the month of November, an average of 1,667 words per day. Every year, over 500,000 writers worldwide take part in this online and in-person event, and that number continues to grow. What makes Nano Remo, or as some pronounce the acronym, Nano Rhymo, such a popular affair? The community surrounding this annual writing challenge certainly doesn't hurt. Online forums, pep talks from published authors, and regional write-ins allow writers to connect and encourage one another. Factor in the host of social media conversations that spring up around this challenge, and in many ways, Nano Remo has become an exclusive cool kid club for writers, one that anyone around the world can join. Nano Remo also provides writers with some much-needed motivation by gamifying the writing process. At nanoremo.org, writers can publicly share their challenge progress, earn awards for achieving particular project milestones, and receive prizes should they achieve their goal of writing 50,000 words of fiction. Think you might like to participate in this year's event? Joining the challenge is simple. Step one, create your Nano Remo account. To become an official participant or Remo, first create an account at nanoremo.org. Fill out your profile, check out the challenge facts, and add fellow participants as writing buddies. Step two, announce your novel project. To officially take part in this year's challenge, be sure to announce your novel via your Nano Remo profile. You can then add your project's title, genre, and synopsis, but only your writing buddies will see this information. One thing to note is that writers typically can't announce their novels for the upcoming event until late September. Step three, start writing on November 1st. Participating in Nano Remo is easy. Simply begin writing in your writing app of choice on November 1st. As the month progresses, log into your account to update your progress, gain participation badges, and check out the forums. When you've written 50,000 words, you can claim your official winner crown and prizes by validating your word count via the Nano Remo website. Just be sure to fit your words in before November 30th. If you're feeling confused about any of this information and how Nano Remo works, simply head on over to nanoremo.org to check out all the facts. Winner prizes often include discounts on writing apps such as Scrivener, Campfire, Noveler, and ProWritingAid, as well as free access to writing courses via sites such as the Great Courses and Writing Mastery Academy. Don't forget your winner badges and certificate too. Why should you participate in Nano Remo? To say that becoming a Remo changed my life would be an understatement. The early years of my writing journey were turbulent, to say the least. Despite focusing on the same project for more than two years, I had failed to finish a first draft, constantly rewriting and overhauling my story's plot each time doubt sank its teeth. It wasn't long before I began to fear that I wasn't good enough to be a writer, and that fear quickly activated a dreaded sense of resistance. No matter how much I longed to write, I just couldn't seem to sit down and make words happen. I was terrified. I'd considered giving up writing for good when I discovered Nano Remo in the summer of 2014. For me, this challenge seemed the perfect gauntlet for proving my creative metal. If I could write 50,000 words of fiction in a month, then I would know the writing life was for me. On November 1st, I settled into my desk chair with a dogged sense of determination and wrote and wrote and wrote. The words were awful, but I didn't care. I was writing, and by the time November came to a close, I'd finished my first draft. I'd written over 50,000 words of fiction. But that isn't all that Nano Remo helped me accomplish. If you're ready to revolutionize your writing life, then here are eight additional ways that I, and more importantly, that you, can benefit from participating. Benefit number one, learn to push past resistance. No one ever said that writing is easy. For many, simply getting started can be the most difficult hurdle. Fortunately, there's no better challenge to teach you how to push past resistance and write than Nano Remo. With 1,667 daily words to pen, you don't have time to waste. Don't be afraid to get a little desperate. The keener you are to win the challenge, the easier it will be to sit your butt in the chair and get words on the page. Benefit number two, develop a writing routine. There's nothing like the need to write over 1,500 words a day to help you carve out time to write. If you're anything like most remos, then you'll likely need to sneak in a little writing during odd hours and in odd places too. Track your daily writing during this time and you might just discover when and where you do your best work. Take advantage of these conditions to forge a writing routine you can carry with you into December and beyond. Benefit number three, conquer writer's block. Writer's block is a scapegoat term that many writers apply to any number of issues that inhibit their ability to write, including resistance, creative burnouts, developmental story issues, and a lack of clarity concerning what to write next. The challenge of Nano Remo ensures that you won't cry writer's block when these issues arise. Once again, you simply don't have time to waste if you want to win. Instead, you'll take a moment to figure out the issue at the heart of your block, then find ways to resolve it so you can get back to writing ASAP. Benefit number four, build creative momentum. In learning to overcome resistance and other pesky writing issues, you'll get more words on the page than ever before. This progress will lead to a sense of accomplishment and creative momentum that you can carry into your writing practice long after Nano Remo comes to a close. Benefit number five, curb unnecessary editing. The purpose of a first draft is to get your story out of your head and down on paper, yet many writers fiddle with word choice and sentence structure as they draft, completing unnecessary edits that inhibit their productivity. With so many words to write each day, Nano Remo will quickly cure you of this habit. Benefit number six, make serious progress on your project. Though word count standards range from genre to genre, an average novel is roughly 75,000 words long. If you write 50k during Nano Remo, then there's a good chance you'll draft more than 50% of your manuscript in the month of November. Talk about exciting progress. Benefit number seven, find a sense of community. Writing can be a lonely endeavor, especially if there are no suitable writing groups in your local area. Fortunately, there's no better time to jump into the online writing community than during Nano Remo. When you can connect and let's be real, commiserate with writers across all major social media platforms and in the official Nano Remo forums. Finally, benefit number eight, cultivate creative confidence. It's hard to feel inadequate in your writing ability when you're cranking out 50,000 words in a month. By the time you finish Nano Remo, there's a good chance you'll have cultivated a bit of creative confidence. By the end of the month, you'll know with certainty that you are a writer. And more importantly, that nothing can stop you from getting your stories down on paper. So keep writing, my friend. Can you see how this annual writing challenge holds the power to revolutionize your writing life? If you aren't sure whether this challenge is right for you, have no fear. All word count goals and projects are welcome. In fact, so many writers pursued their own projects and goals over the years that Nano Remo even created a special Nano Rebel virtual badge. Of course, with the holidays just around the corner, November can be a tough month for many writers who wish to participate. If you find that you simply can't carve out the time to participate in November, there's no need to feel as though you're missing out. The Nano Remo team also hosts several camp Nano events throughout the year, typically in April and July. No matter when you participate or what project or aim you pursue, allow Nano Remo to serve as your personal creative gauntlet. At first, you may struggle and doubt your ability to succeed, but keep pushing. With every word you write, you'll gain confidence and momentum. You'll grow in your craft and your commitment to your practice. You'll become the writer you want to be. Need help developing your Nano Remo project? Grab your copy of the Pre-Write Project today. With insights and dozens of guided activities, this PDF workbook will help you develop your story's plot, characters, settings, themes, and other essential story elements. By taking the time to pre-write your story, you'll empower yourself to write your first draft with confidence and clarity. You can learn more about the Pre-Write Project and grab your copy today by heading over to well-storied.com slash pre-write. Thank you for listening to today's episode of The Podcast Writer. I hope you found it helpful to your writing journey. If so, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode and to give the podcast a quick rating or review. Doing so goes a long way toward helping the podcast reach new writers and lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm creating. You can also give me a shout-out directly on Instagram at christen-keeper. For additional guidance as you work to craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, be sure to head on over to www.well-storied.com where I share blog posts, workbooks, e-courses, and other helpful resources for writers. Again, that's W-E-L-L-S-T-O-R-I-E-D dot com. Thank you again for tuning into today's episode, my friend. Until next time, happy writing!