Want to Win NaNoWriMo? The Secret Is Preparation • Jane Friedman

First, redefine winning

I don't really like the term "win" when it comes to NaNoWriMo because anything writers do to cultivate a regular creativity practice is a win, even if they don't write 50,000 words in a single month. And I've heard many in the writing community admit that setting such a lofty goal actually creates feelings of failure in an already fraught industry.

So redefine what it means to win NaNoWriMo right now. Do you want to write every day in November? Do you want to write 25,000 words? Do you want to sketch out the bare bones of your new story? Whatever your goal, make it something that you can reasonably achieve given the demands on your time.