So we are one week away from November 1 (!!!). I have been thinking a lot about AcWriMo, and two questions have been in the back of my mind: why should we write in intensive spurts? And what can you (can I) actually get done in a month? This started out as one post, but then got wayyy too long, and y’all are busy people, so you’ll get the rare back-to-back posts from me this week.
If you are already signed up for AcWriMo (or are planning to), then this might give you a sense of how to plan out the rhythm of the month. If you aren’t, then this might help you think about other intensive writing periods, whether they are writing retreats, summer sprints, or other dedicated writing journeys. There are 4 things you need to decide.
1. Depth or Breadth?
The good people at NaNoWriMo, who started this whole wild idea of writing across November for us, have a clear goal: write 50,000 words in 30 days. This is about 1600 words a day. Although no part of me thinks that novel writing is easier than nonfiction writing (quite the opposite, in fact), I do think that academic writing requires different things, and that writing 50,000 words in a month is not, in fact, useful for most folks doing scholarly work.
Of course, you might be the unicorn that it could work for. If you are planning to write a book, have done a lot of preliminary work and written a great outline, well- thought-out chapter structures, and a compelling throughline, then yup 50,000 words might well be within your grasp. Alternatively, if you’ve been ruminating on an idea for a long time and have thoughts that you want to develop through writing, this might also work for you.
Otherwise, it’s worth thinking about other ways that you could spend a month deeply immersing yourself in one project, even if driving up a word count isn’t your goal. I know folks who used AcWriMo last year to finish book proposals that have led to contracts, journal articles that are now in the publication or pre-publication stage, and book chapters that are now full-blown manuscripts.
On the other hand, some folks use AcWriMo to clear the decks for the year. They have four journal articles at different stages, and they are going to make real progress on each one of them, moving them along in the pipeline, getting them submitted or back to co-authors, and essentially just doing a little bit on a lot of things before they rest at the end of the year. I love the energy of this method, and is often what folks with multiple coauthored projects and lots of balls in the air need: not more time on one project, but just more time in general to advance their research agenda. Great!
2. Process or Product Goals?
Obviously it helps to go into something like this with some goals in mind. It’s important to right-size the goals so that you’re not burned out by trying to do too much, but you actually push yourself to get things done (The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal has interesting things to say about why stress isn’t necessarily toxic). On the other hand, the frenzied nature of trying to push yourself for a full month doesn’t work for everyone, in which case something like AcWriMoments might work better for you.
I think it’s more useful to clarify for yourself what would make you feel good at the end of the session. Is a job well done having spent a lot of time developing an idea and getting words on the page? If so, that’s a process goal: focusing on the process of getting words into the world. Alternatively, is your goal to have that manuscript in a specific place—back to a coauthor, submitted to a journal, or to have a completed draft of chapter 3 or written 77,777 words? Those are product goals.
Both work, and there are reasons for each. Just make sure your long-term goal matches your unit of analysis. To use an obvious example, I love to watch my word count when I’m writing, but if I’m editing my word count is going to get SMALLER, so I need something else to gauge my progress (like time spent on a manuscript, or editing three sections).
3. Motivation?
How are you going to make yourself do the writing? People have strong feelings about reward structures—some people are really motivated by the idea of rewarding themselves for reaching different milestones, and have a kind of system in place to facilitate those rewards. Other people feel like they’re adults, and they’re going to do what they want anyway, so they need internal motivation.
I’ve followed the debate over rewards for a while, and I think two things are probably true. The first is that your lizard brain wants you to be happy, and so if you can convince it that writing makes you happy, you’ll want to do more writing. This might be a chocolate or a walk once you’re done writing every day. This might mean a vacation or fancy dinner when you hit your big goal. This might be making sure you wear your jammies and cozy slippers when you write. It might mean always lighting the same candle. All of these work for some of my clients—amazing! They might not work for you—also fine!
I also know that writing is hard, and it’s important to acknowledge that and do nice things for ourselves because we’re good people who deserve to be happy. This year, I bought myself a pre-AcWriMo gift of a standing desk and under-desk treadmill because I’ve wanted them for a while, and being a little healthier makes me (and my back) happy. My little co-author loves it too.
And on day 10, when I start feeling like I don’t want to write, I’ll be able to remind myself that I already got my reward so maybe I should follow through on my commitment to finish the damn book.
4. What Kind of Structures Help You Stay Accountable?
Like the debate over motivation, the debate over accountability has some strong voices on all sides. A lot of how you feel about accountability has a lot to do, as Gretchen Rubin says, with how you deal with expectations.
I build two kinds of accountability structures into AcWriMo and the other writing groups I host. The first is the asynchronous space of Slack. For some people, this works super well. Pop on, publicly announce your goals, give other people thumbs up, and then let us know at the end of the day how it went. You can chat to other writers, know other people are writing with you, share memes, tips, and tricks, or just have a public to-do list.
This works well for me when it comes to process goals. When I publicly commit to a certain number of hours or a certain number of words, I will do it just so I can tell people on the internet that I’ve done it (I swear I’m a grown up…).
I also host Zoom co-writing sessions because I know that body doubling works for many people. Knowing that other people are writing, and that you’ve committed that time just to the project at hand, can be a really effective tool. It works for me. I can say with 100% certainty that the product goal of finishing this book would not have been accomplished without forcing myself to show up to the writing sessions I host. So, thank you for being there as well.
So friends, if you’re doing AcWriMo, I think these are four things worth pondering for yourself: what do you want to accomplish, can it be accomplished best through process or product goals, how will you motivate yourself when it gets hard, and what kind of accountability do you need to keep going?
I’ll share a few more thoughts, and some ideas about how I’m doing it, tomorrow.
Happy writing,
Kelly
A few fun reminders—
First, registration for Spring Writers’ Circles is officially open, and they are already over half full with amazing folks I know for a fact you want to spend a semester with. If you register by November 15, you’ll get discounts on the price of registration. You can find more information about the spring sessions here, and you can use the application form here to apply. You can read more about why I decided to create the writers’ circles, and my vision of writing together, here. Please join us, and invite your friends and colleagues!
Also, you know this because you just read a post about it, but we’re ONE week out from November, which means it’s time for AcWriMo! Register here, and read more about how to prepare for AcWriMo here (complete with an AcWriMo BINGO card). Again, this is free and everyone is welcome, so invite your friends!
Finally, Mirya and I still have one space in our January writing retreat open - let us know if you want it! We’re announcing more details about Mexico City soon, so stay tuned for that and let us know if you want to be the first to get notified. The details are all here and the application is here, and I’m happy to answer any questions. Hopefully this newsletter helps you brainstorm ways your university will pay for this.
And….
December: A little editing pause. I’m going to be taking December 17-January 10 off from editing to decompress, spend family time, and focus on the writing retreat. If you have something in the pipeline and we haven’t talked about it yet, let’s touch base to figure out how to schedule it around that time. If we’ve already talked, you’re on my schedule!
…Spring editing! This is a great time to make plans for us to work together in the spring—let me know if you’d like to get on my editing calendar for mid-February and beyond. Bring me great stuff to read! Let’s get it published!
Referrals: Because writing is better with friends—especially AcWriMo writing—I’d love for you to refer people to write with us. Substack has a fun new recruiting plan where you can get stuff (writing prompts! A Zoom call with me!) just for referring people to the newsletter—if that’s your jam, you can use this button: