Fall marks the time of the year that many authors focus on their writing projects. NaNoWriMo provided a good opportunity for writers to gather together and write the first draft of their novel or revise their story. However, the NaNoWriMo organisers are currently facing a backlash over allowing the use of A.I. Many authors announced that they will not participate in the official NaNoWriMo event this November and they won’t relate themselves with NaNoWriMo anymore. 

​Maybe you are one of those writers too. You don’t want to participate in the official NaNoWriMo challenge this year, but you still want to challenge yourself to write the first draft of your novel. Instead of NaNoWriMo, I suggest you take the 90-day novel writing challenge created bythe author of this blog article.

The blog article includes:
What is the 90-day novel writing challenge?
The goals of the 90-day novel writing challenge
Choose the writing software
Brainstorm your novel
Find the time and day that suits you best
Track your writing process
What happens after the writing challenge?
Conclusion
Further reading

What is the 90-day novel writing challenge?
The 90-day novel writing challenge is a writing challenge where authors aim to write a completed first draft of their novel in 90 days.

Writing 50,000 words in a month can be stressful and overwhelming for many authors. The 90-day novel writing challenge is a more realistic and flexible challenge where authors can finish the first draft of their novel in a more relaxed and consistent way.

The 90-day novel writing challenge will help you create a consistent writing routine that you can maintain after the challenge ends. You can ask your writer friends to participate in this challenge with you so that you can share your writing progress, motivate each other and talk about your stories. You will also improve your writing and editing skills.

The goals of the 90-day novel writing challenge
Main goal: Finish writing the first draft of your novel in 90 days.
 The average word count for writing a novel is 80,000 words so for the purposes of this challenge you need to write 80,000 words to finish the first draft of your novel.

Your novel might end up being fewer or more words. The purpose of this writing challenge is to finish writing the first draft of your novel, no matter how many words your novel is. The 80,000-word count goal is just an estimate based on the average word count of novels for most genres.
 
Write 1,000 words every day. 
If you write 1,000 words per day, you will finish the first draft of your novel in 80 days. You can use the remaining 10 days of the challenge's 90 days to plan your novel. Remember that this is just an initial plan and it can change any time. For example, you might finish your novel at 85,000 words or have an emergency that keeps you from writing every day. Stay flexible. Adjust your schedule and deadline as needed. Don’t get discouraged. Keep writing every day or as often as you can.

Smaller goals: Divide the 80,000 words into 4 smaller goals of 20,000 words.
Subgoal 1: 20,000 words
Subgoal 2: 40,000 words
Subgoal 3 : 60,000 words
Completed manuscript: 80,000 words

Divide your story into smaller goals to boost your confidence and motivate yourself to keep writing your story. Every time you hit the 20,000-word subgoal reward yourself. 

The rewards for the smaller goals can be as simple as going out to your favourite restaurant with your friends, going to the cinema or having a day off for yourself.

Make sure to reward yourself with something “bigger” when you finish writing the first draft of your manuscript. The reward can be going on a short trip, upgrading your writing software or going back to your favourite hobby e,g drawing, playing a musical instrument, or reading a book.

Choose the writing software
Choose writing software that is easy and comfortable for you to use. There are many available free and paid writing software on the market.

If you are a new writer on a budget, you can try Microsoft Word or Google Docs but you can also check Scrivener or Campfire if you are interested in writing software with more outlining and editing features.

Do your research and choose one that best suits your budget and needs, if you don’t already have one.

Brainstorm your novel
1) Think about your story idea, genre and tropes. What is your story about? Is it a contemporary romance story, a murder mystery or a paranormal thriller novel?  What tropes will you include in your story?Write down in your writing software as much information as you can about your story idea and tropes.

You can learn more information about how to brainstorm your story’s genre, tropes and main characters in this blog article.

2) Think about the main character(s) of your story and write down as much information as you can about their goals, motivations and flaws in a character profile. You can also write some information about their physical appearance and personality.

You can learn more information about creating character profiles and compelling characters in this blog article.

3) Outline your novel using the 3-act structure and the 15 beats analysed in Save the Cat Writes a  Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody. Write as much information as you need in every beat. You can also write detailed chapter-by-chapter summaries if you want to know exactly what happens in every chapter of your story. The amount of preparation you can do is up to you.

You can find more information about how to write a romance novel using the 3-act structure in this blog article.

Find the time and day that suits you best
Find the time of the day that suits you best to write 1,000 words per day. There is no ideal time to write. Write when it is best for your schedule and lifestyle. Try to write every day in order to keep the momentum going and create a consistent writing routine.

Beginner writers will need at least 1 hour to write 1,000 words but experienced authors will need less time. Take as much time as you need to write 1,000 words a day. You can learn more tips about how to create a consistent writing routine and write every day in this blog article.

Track your writing process
Keep a planner where you add your daily word count and how much time you write every day. You can also create a word count tracker in an Excel spreadsheet where you add the date, scene/chapter, sprint duration, words per sprint and daily word count every day.

This is a writing challenge so focus on writing. Do not edit. Move forward. Write your story. Don’t think about how to improve scenes that you have already written. Leave them for the editing stage. Your goal now is to finish writing the first draft of your novel.

What happens after the writing challenge?
After the 90-day novel writing challenge ends, put your story away. Get back to your manuscript after a month and start reading it. While reading your manuscript, make notes on what changes you wish to make.

Look at the big-picture storytelling elements of your story such as story structure, characters (goal, motivation, flaw, conflict), pacing, setting, show vs tell, dialogue and genre conventions.

Make notes about the issues of every chapter in the manuscript and note down issues that cover the entire manuscript in a separate document. Then, look at the issues you have noted, create an editing plan and start editing your manuscript.  

Conclusion
This blog article encourages authors to participate in the 90-day novel writing challenge. It is high time for authors to look beyond NaNoWriMo and participate in flexible writing challenges that promote their creativity, inspiration, and motivation and allow them to set realistic writing goals. 

Comment below and let me know if you are participating in the 90-day novel writing challenge this year!
Don’t forget to share the blog article on your social media!

Further reading
NaNoWriMo A.I. controversy explained
How to brainstorm your novel’s genre and main characters
How character profiles can help you write consistent and compelling characters
How to write a romance novel using the 3-act structure
How to create a consistent writing routine
Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel

You wish to write a novel but you don’t have the time or the energy. You often wonder how writers manage to finish writing their manuscripts. What is their secret?

The secret to a finished manuscript is committing yourself to a consistent writing routine. Having a writing routine sounds challenging but if you are determined to write a book, you need to have the discipline to write every day and turn your writing process into an everyday habit.

​Having a consistent writing routine can help you avoid procrastination, find motivation and inspiration, complete your novel on time and improve your writing skills. This blog article explains the 7 steps for successfully creating a consistent writing routine.


​This blog article includes the 7 steps for creating a consistent writing routine:
Find the time and day that works best for you
Write down your writing goals
Find a writing space
Create a playlist
Avoid distractions
Use the Pomodoro method
Join a writer’s group
Conclusion
Further reading

Find the time and day that works best for you
Think carefully about your everyday schedule and your commitments. When is the best time for you to write? Early in the morning, late at night or somewhere in between? 

Check your calendar and see when you have free time to write. You may have other obligations such as studies, parenting or full-time job and think it is impossible to find time to sit down and write. Don’t discourage yourself.  Even 30 minutes or 1 hour a day can be enough time. The most important thing is to write every day (or almost every day) to keep the momentum going and create a regular writing habit.

​Check your calendar and mark 1 hour every day for writing. Preferably, the same hour every day. Write down in your calendar that this hour is designed for writing to remind yourself of your writing goal.

Write down your writing goals
Set a writing goal. The goal can be a timed-based or a word count goal. Preferably, write down a word count goal. How will you do that?  Let’s say that you are planning to write a 80,000 novel and you can sit down to write 1 hour a day. Beginner writers can usually write about 1,000 words in one hour. Let’s say that you are a new author and you set a daily word count goal of 1,000 words per day. Divide the total word count of your story with the amount of your daily word count: 80,000/1000= 80 days. You can finish writing your manuscript in 80 days.

Mark down in your calendar the expected deadline and write down your daily word count and the amount of words you have left every day. Remember that this is your initial plan and it can change at any time. For example, you might finish your novel at 70,000 words or have an unexpected emergency that keeps you from writing every day and actually finish your story in 4 months.

Don’t get discouraged. Keep pushing forward! Keep writing every day or as often as you can and you will soon have the finished manuscript in your hands! 

Find a writing space
Find a quiet and clean writing space. It can be your office desk, the kitchen table, the garden table or anywhere else you want. This will be your designated writing space. Set it up beforehand so that it is ready for you to write every day. Get all the things you need in your writing space before you sit down to write such as water, snacks, notes and anything else you might need. Make sure that all your writing notes are already organised so that you can start writing as soon as you sit down.

Create a playlist
You can also find or create a playlist with songs that match the mood, tone and genre of your story to help you find inspiration and avoid writer’s block. Create this playlist beforehand so that it is ready when you sit down and write. You can use noise-cancelling headphones to help you focus on your writing and remove outside noise.

Avoid distractions
You have only 1 hour to write. Turn off your phone, or move it to another room to avoid the temptation to check your messages or emails. Don’t check your social media during your writing time. Tell the members of your family how important writing your novel is for you. Inform them that this hour is solely dedicated to writing and no one can disrupt you unless it is urgent. 

Use the Pomodoro method
The Pomodoro method is a time management method that helps you perform focused work during 25-minute intervals (pomodoros) and then take a five-minute break. You can use the Pomodoro method to help you avoid distractions and improve your focus. For example, you plan to write for 1 hour. You can set a timer to write for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break to read what you wrote or note down some notes. Then, set your timer again for another 25-minute session and then take five minutes to update your character profiles, outline or any other notes you may have,

Join a writer’s group
Connecting with other writers or having an accountability partner can tremendously help you finish the first draft of your novel. You can find motivation with other writers, share your daily word count goals, brainstorm through any issues that you encounter as you write your story and make writer friends.

Remember that you’re not alone. There are dozens of writers trying to finish their manuscript. You can find other writers by joining your local writer’s group, by attending writing workshops, classes and seminars or by joining writer’s groups on Facebook.

Conclusion
This blog article explains the 7 steps to create a consistent writing routine. I believe the seven steps mentioned in this blog article will help you create and maintain a successfully consistent writing routine and turn your writing process into a regular habit. Keep writing!
​
Do you like this blog article? Comment below and tell me your writing routine!
 Don’t forget to share the article on your social media!

Further reading
Are you still in the outlining stage? No problem. Check out these resources to learn how to outline your story:
How to brainstorm the genre and the main characters of your story
​How character profiles can help you write consistent and compelling characters
How to write a novel using the three-act structure