The NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month), is a self-inflicted torture that millions of people choose to suffer through for the month of November.

In short, the challenge is to write at least 50000 words through the 30 days, which averages out to little more than 1600 per day.

It is a fun challenge but one that should not be taken lightly. I have taken part in it often, and of course it has been instrumental to developing my writing muscles to be able to write every day for more than 100 days.

Here you can find three quick suggestions for you to try and live through the NaNo WriMo a little better (or get out alive!):

1. Plan it out – especially if it is your first time, take the time to jot down a calendar. The number of words you have written today and how many you should write for the remaining days. Writing it out helps to take a better look at the whole project. Write down a goal and reward yourself (even just a piece of chocolate is enough!) for reaching it.
   
2. Phone off – this is one of the most important things. If you are writing, you are writing. Keeping one or two tabs open for research or as for help to your favorite writing AI is fine, as long as you keep most of your focus on the page. If you need to do something else, do it before or a while after you are writing. You will get in the ‘flow’ much easier, your mind lighter and sharper. Keep your phone out of sight and out of reach.
   
3. No skips – ideally, you should do it every day. This helps to build up a habit, and this helps to overcome the resistance to sit down and write and the fear of the blank page. If you feel like skipping, try to remind yourself it is gonna get easier if you just sit down.
   
   A little trick is to sit down and try for five minutes. Usually, most resistance fades down in the first minute.

Of course there are many more tips – and we will see a few more of them down the line, but these are some valid points that helped me a lot through the years.

I hope you will find the others just as useful.

If this is your first time here: this is my repository for daily fiction. I have begun writing every day starting on the 1st of February. The list is here (save for the Witchbound updates).