Are you NaNoWriMo? Your content-writing diet for November

Posted by Andrew Tobert on 7 Nov, 2012
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Are you NaNoWriMo? Your content-writing diet for November from Wordtracker, the leading keyword research tool

November is a great time of year to make a positive change and get into good writing habits. The reason is NaNoWriMo - and here’s what it’s all about.

Frustrated writer

NaNoWriMo stands for (Inter)National Novel Writing Month. Writers sign a pledge to write 50,000 words in one month. It’s a lot, but because there’s a real community and buzz, it’s easy (or, easier) to keep motivated. There are support groups that can help you and websites where you can share your experiences and frustrations.

But you’re not a novelist, so why would you care? Simply, because if you’re struggling to get into the habit of producing content, now is the best time of the year to change that.

If you spend time creating content, you’ll get better at it, faster, and chances are you won’t be so daunted at the idea of doing more in future. November is your chance to make yourself a content creator. Do it, and your website and (probably) your bank balance, will be better for it.

There are four key stages.

Commit and target (Day 1)

You’re about to write a lot of content, so you need to make sure you have enough time. Think about your day-to-day business activities. How you can you juggle these so that you have the time to commit to writing content?

Also, consider the keyword niches you’re targeting. And how you can use your content to attract links. What sort of content is going to have the greatest impact on your business?

Write the titles of 20 content ideas, and a brief synopsis.

Plan (Day 2)

Planning what content you’re going to write is always important, and NaNoWriMo is no exception.

Spend a day fleshing out the details of the content you’re going to write. Make sure you have a clear structure and that you’ve researched all the information, facts and figures you’ll need.

Next, put dates next to your content ideas. You need to know, when you sit down at work in the morning, what you’re going to be doing. In the next three weeks, there will be no time for umming and ahhing, so map out your workload thoroughly.

Write (Days 3 to 23)

Spend the next 20 days of the month writing. Don’t edit, don’t read over what you’ve done, just write it. Write, write and write some more. If you’re stuck, go for a walk round the block, drink tea, get drunk, whatever works for you. But, don’t give up each day until you’ve achieved your writing targets.

Edit (Days 24 to 29)

The author Ernest Hemingway once said, ‘Write drunk; edit sober’.

You’re allowed to write bad content. You’re just not allowed to publish it.

So read what you’ve written and see how much is close to being publishable. Start with the best articles and edit until you’re sure it’s good enough to publish.

If some of what you’ve written turns out to be total nonsense (it happens), put it to one side for now. Maybe there’s something there you can rescue at a later date, maybe not.

But, as long as you have some good content, you can consider your NaNoWriMo a success.

Publish (Day 30)

You now have a batch of content that you’re happy with, so you’re ready to hit publish, or rather, you’re ready to plan to hit publish. It’s better to publish content regularly rather than all at once, so stagger your releases.

So that’s your content diet plan!

When I was first introduced to the idea of NaNoWriMo, I was very dismissive. Why would I spend so much time writing in November when I couldn’t do it for any other month of the year? I just don’t have the time!

But then I actually did it. I made time. Sure, there were a few evenings out I missed and I no longer followed what was happening on Desperate Housewives, but by the end of the month, I’d written more than ever before (or since).

I know that with a little effort I could do so again and that feels empowering. So do it, write some great web content and let me know how you get on.

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