How to Write Fast and Why: Reflections on NaNoWriMo from Grant Faulkner

On Friday, Rebecca and I attended a Chicago Humanities Festival event featuring a Q&A with NaNoWriMo executive director Grant Faulkner. Here are my notes tapped out on my iPhone during the 1 hour session:

400,000 people signed up for the 2016 NaNoWriMo challenge this November.

Three secrets to success of NaNoWriMo: Social, Accountability, Fun.

NaNoWriMo is Fitbit for writing.
 
Commit by engaging with others.

Setting a goal and deadline acts as a creative midwife.

You find inspiration on the page.

You can’t edit a blank page.

As human beings, we are all creative types.

Being published isn’t the criteria for success, the criteria is the act of writing.
 
Writing is the necessary act of serial failure.

Search for quality through quantity.

Quality is subjective. Quantity is measurable (i.e., word count).
 
There is no failure in writing. The failure is in not writing.

I’ve never participated in a NaNoWriMo event, but I found myself in considerable agreement with what Grant expressed about the intent and spirit of the organization. In fact, the Zero Draft Thirty Challenges in March and September arose from the fact NaNoWriMo discontinued their Script Frenzy initiative after hosting it from 2007 to 2012.

If you have a problem with perfectionism and procrastination getting in the way of your productivity, set your own 30 day writing challenge. Publicly commit to doing it, create a calendar, mark down your progress each day, and get from FADE IN to FADE OUT. Quality doesn’t count. Quantity does. As Grant said, “There is no failure in writing. The failure is in not writing.”

Grant Faulkner website here.

Medium: Grant Faulkner.

Twitter: @grantfaulkner.

Go here for the NaNoWriMo website.

And if you’re looking for a fun, inspirational, and supportive online writing community, I encourage you to check out the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook Group.