The NaMos are Coming! The NaMos are Coming!

November is a big month for bloggers and writers, with thousands of folks taking part in NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo. Wondering, “NaMo what?” Read on!

October 24, 2014

Michelle Weber

November is one week away, and that means NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are, too!

If you’ve been thinking about reinvigorating your blogging or are finally ready to stop procrastinating on that book you’ve always wanted to write, these two great events (and communities) can give you the jolt of motivation you need.

NaMo what now?

NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are short for “National Novel Writing Month” and “National Blog Posting Month,” respectively. In the first, writers commit to writing a 50,000-word novel between November 1 and November 30; in the second, to posting every single day in November.

310,095 participants started the month of November as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

– NaNoWriMo 2013 at a Glance

Although the two events are separate, they share a history: NaBloPoMo started in response to NaNoWriMo, when a group of bloggers who lacked the time or inclination to write a book, but loved the idea of a communal blogging challenge, coalesced. Both challenges now have their own vibrant communities of writers and bloggers who inspire and support one another.

If you wait until the Muse shows up and inspires you to write, you may end up writing nothing at all. Whereas if you’re sitting there every day in November churning out your thoughts and photos and shaping them all into something readable, if even 33% of what you’ve posted veers toward greatness, that’s 10 great posts you came up with that you might not have otherwise.

– NaBloPoMo founder Eden Kennedy

Hundreds of thousands of writers and bloggers participate each year, making new friends and writing things they never thought they would.

How do I get involved?

Easy! Just decide to do it. All you need is an idea, some commitment, and a place to write.

Take the NaNoWriMo challenge, and proudly display the Viking crest!

Take the NaNoWriMo challenge, and proudly display the Viking crest!

Getting involved with the larger communities is almost as easy:

  • To be listed on the official blogroll of NaBloPoMo participants, head to BlogHer’s NaBloPoMo headquarters at the beginning of November — there’ll be a sign-up post where you can add your blog, along with a list of suggested blogging prompts for the month. You can also grab the official badge for your blog.
  • For NaNoWriMo, mosey over to the project’s official website to sign up and access features like word count tools and forums where you can connect with other budding novelists.

On WordPress.com, you can also tag your posts with “NaNoWriMo” or “NaBloPoMo” to help other participants find you.

I’m not sure I can blog every day for a month, help!

Sure you can, and we can help. Along with the prompts NaBloPoMo provides, we’ve got our own daily prompts and weekly writing and photo challenges to get the creative juices flowing. For those of you who prefer to blog with images, we’re also kicking off a new Blogging U. challenge in November, Photography 101, to help you snap and post every day.

If prompts aren’t for you, try creating your own manageable posting strategy for the month. Posting every day doesn’t have to mean writing 1,000 words a day — it can be as simple as:

  • A photo a day
  • A list a day
  • A sketch a day
  • A haiku a day
  • An observation a day
  • A thank you a day

For more help making it through, check out our blog event survival guide or our roundtable with seasoned NaNoWriMo authors. And there’s no better motivation than encouragement and engagement, so visit one another’s blogs and leave a comment when you do.

You’ve got a week to prepare. Get ready to get writing!

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89 Comments

Comments are closed.

  1. Jelena Oct 24th at 3:15 pm

    This is fantastic, a post a day is easy 😀 So excited for NaBloPoMo

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Michael McCallister Oct 24th at 3:32 pm

    I did NaBloPoMo for the first time last year, and it was great fun. I gave myself license to experiment with different topics from what I usually write about (and will do so again this year). Instead of just technology, I wrote about things like “Doctor Who” and the Asian typhoon. A few times, I even started typing into the mobile app at 11PM, realizing the day was almost done! So those probably weren’t my best work. The sad part is that the momentum didn’t really carry over through the rest of the year. I hope that changes this year.

    Liked by 8 people

  3. athursdayschild has a long way to go and much to be thankful for. Oct 24th at 3:33 pm

    I participated last year in nanowrimo and have signed up again this year.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. nikki Oct 24th at 3:44 pm

    If I had known about this, I would have started my anime challenge on the 1st of Nov. I suppose it doesn’t count now, does it? I’ve 11 more days of it…

    But this is really nice, may I can do one of the two (even if my anime challenge wouldn’t count) 😀

    Liked by 3 people

  5. myfemalepersuasion Oct 24th at 3:49 pm

    Is Yeah Write participating in NaBloPoMo this year? A lot of my new followers came by way of their grid last year.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Grasshopper Girls Oct 24th at 4:00 pm

    Too bad they are the same month! It forces me to choose between the two. I am choosing NaNo this year!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. katysoqewl Oct 24th at 4:04 pm

    I’m a new blogger, and can’t wait to sign up for it… Sounds like real fun..

    Liked by 5 people

  8. orthodoxmom3 Oct 24th at 4:16 pm

    PiBoIdMo is coming too!! For those that don’t know, PiBoIdMo -started by Tara Lazar – is Picture Book Idea Month!!! 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  9. C. K. Crouch Oct 24th at 4:56 pm

    I can do the NaNoWriMo, I do it every year. I can never think of anything to blog about :-/

    Liked by 1 person

  10. tellthetruth1 Oct 24th at 5:22 pm

    What a lovely title. Good luck to all participants 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  11. newslord Oct 24th at 5:29 pm

    Nothing like a deadline. I’ll start on the blogging, I think. Just the shot in the arm I was after

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Laura P. Schulman, MD, MA Oct 24th at 5:30 pm

    Hey, I’m totally pumped! I’ve won NaNoWriMo for the past three years. I. Know it says the comments are not for questions, but…since I am planning to use my blog as a place to work out the bones of my next novel, is it possible to do both at the same time? As in, write the novel in serial form? I tend to wax long in my posts ( I can’t seem to stop telling stories), so it won’t take me long to reach the 50,000 finish line of I blog it! Or would that be considered double dipping?

    Liked by 4 people

  13. Little Miss Menopause Oct 24th at 5:55 pm

    Whenever I see that, I realize I subconsciously think of Robin William’s Mork (nanu, nanu!) and even more this year. I may participate in his honor. Thanks, Michelle

    Liked by 3 people

  14. Jeanne Bryan Insalaco Oct 24th at 6:27 pm

    Sounds Exciting! I’ve been writing in the 52 week Ancestor challenge – I think I’ll write in just fun topics!

    Liked by 2 people

  15. alightningbug Oct 24th at 6:47 pm

    Yes! Well. Yes to NaBloPoMo. Though the other would be awesome.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Nthato Morakabi Oct 24th at 6:54 pm

    Oh yes! Only got halfway last year, hope to redeem myself this year! Joining the write-ins, got a a counter on my blog which will also have a word count. I’m prepared! Are you!?

    Liked by 1 person

  17. carlisdm Oct 24th at 7:04 pm

    This is so exciting! I’ve already registered to NaNoWrimo and it´s going to be my first time 🙂 check out how I’m mental and emotionally preparing in my blog post : http://carlisdm1.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/hang-in-there-november-nanowrimo-is-coming/

    Liked by 1 person

  18. falkuse Oct 24th at 7:05 pm

    Ooooh, this is my 7th year of nanowrimo, but I have never heard of nablopomo. I will definitely do both this year!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Anna Oct 24th at 7:34 pm

    I am excited about this. New to blogging so this is the perfect time to start. Thank you!!!

    Liked by 4 people

  20. martha0stout Oct 24th at 8:06 pm

    I saw the title for this and I cackled. My family immediately knew they didn’t want to know. I told them anyway.

    Really looking forward to this!

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Hassaan Khan Oct 24th at 8:33 pm

    Looks great. I think I heard about this last year too, but didn’t notice. Now I’m ready and excited to do this challenge. Let’s blog and build community.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. springingtiger Oct 24th at 8:38 pm

    I have signed up for NaNoWriMo and wondering, “Oh God, what have I done?” However in 2013 I challenged myself to post a blog every day of the year and I went over the 400 mark! I included in that year NaPoWriMo and I found that writing fed my writing; ok, some of my output was crap, but there was more than enough of which to be proud, and the sense of accomplishment was worth every second of doubt. Making the public commitment forced me to write even when I didn’t want to bother, I need that kind of pressure.

    Liked by 5 people

  23. sarahas5 Oct 24th at 10:01 pm

    I did it for the first time last year and absolutely loved it — but now can’t even fathom how I possibly managed to write every day. I “met” new friends and blogs to follow through BlogHer, even got featured once, and enjoyed the comments and visits of new friends to my blog. It was such a great experience I managed to repeat it in December and part of January — before utterly failing. I was too afraid to attempt it this year, but I think I my “want to” is going to win over my fear. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  24. Sandee M. Oct 24th at 10:30 pm

    I’ve been thinking about signing on to make progress on my memoir. It’s not technically a novel (or a blog), but is the genre really the key thing? Or is the focus really on the goal of producing lots of work within a supportive community?

    Liked by 1 person

  25. violet626 Oct 25th at 12:36 am

    Just started a blog and am really looking forward to this! Can’t really commit to writing a story or a play during a month, because I write short, but blogging every day seems like a reasonable challenge.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. Corina Oct 25th at 1:04 am

    I’ve done NaNoWriMo every year (except one) since 2006. It’s great fun and a wonderful opportunity to challenge yourself. I’ve also done NaBloPoMo concurrently. That’s much easier. A post can be anything. I have also written a few blog posts and kept them as drafts to be published on days I just can’t post, that way there is still a post each day. If all else fails when you are doing both, you can post a paragraph or two of your NaNoWriMo project or talk about one of your characters or perhaps a challenge you are encountering in your novel. Remember that a picture can be a stand alone post. So can a quote or a song lyric, etc.

    Liked by 2 people

  27. stillunwinding Oct 25th at 2:31 am

    I wonder if I dare try both… 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  28. snoskred747 Oct 25th at 10:59 am

    I’m NaBloPoMo-ing. I’ll try and drop by as many NaBloPoMo blogs as I can to leave a comment. I’ve put a link up post over at my blog at www dot snoskred dot org , if people want to add a link to their blog there I’ll make sure to drop by. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  29. thisishelp Oct 25th at 11:14 am

    When I Read NaMo, I was thinking about Narendra Modi :O

    Liked by 2 people

  30. thesciencegeek Oct 25th at 1:08 pm

    Sounds a really great idea. Both NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo are very tough challenges

    The Science Geek

    Liked by 1 person

  31. lindsey686 Oct 25th at 1:28 pm

    I’m a new blogger (as of this year), so I love this idea of posting everyday!!! I normally only post once a week.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. DoomPatrolman Oct 25th at 3:19 pm

    While I loooove the idea of NaBloPoMo, and I fully intend to participate, I could never place that BlogHer badge on my blog. People might think I finally succumbed and got gender sensitivity training.

    Liked by 2 people

  33. accidentallyreflective Oct 25th at 3:32 pm

    Well now I have a problem! I only heard about NaNoWriMo last week and I was seriously considering jumping into the deep end and doing it! But now you tell me about NaBloPoMo and I’m thinking it’ll be easier to achieve and so I’ll leave the novel for another year boo!!! 😁

    Liked by 2 people

  34. Banned Books Club Oct 25th at 6:22 pm

    Getting my blog posts together now. I’m determined I’m going to finish it this year! 🙂 Good Luck to everyone, whichever NaMo you choose.

    Liked by 2 people

  35. AJ Oct 25th at 7:08 pm

    I’m looking forward to this! What a great idea.

    Liked by 1 person

  36. Salty Sweet Life Oct 25th at 7:49 pm

    I just followed the link that you posted to BlogHer and it appears that NaBloPoMo is in October. Did we miss it?

    Liked by 1 person

  37. heatherglomb Oct 25th at 8:08 pm

    I am absolutely participating. I won the last two years, and I’m going to win again this year. Last year’s NaNo project is in edits right now, which is painful and NaNo will be a welcome reprieve. If anyone wants to buddy up, my tag is feather face. It’s a childhood nickname. I may even partake in NaNoBloMo, to track my progress. You can see it for yourself, heatherglomb.com. Just click follow. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Claire Oct 25th at 10:22 pm

    Looking forward to starting the NaBloPoMo next month!

    Liked by 1 person

  39. maryef Oct 25th at 10:23 pm

    Oh I am so excited! I started blogging just six months ago so I didn’t know of NaBloPoMo! Thank you for this post!

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Beyond the picket fence Oct 25th at 10:46 pm

    Finally a challenge that isn’t about going without! Instead of giving something up its time to give – my words. I’m ready, I think!

    Liked by 2 people

  41. belle★beckford Oct 26th at 6:11 am

    Is it really here already? I did NaBloPoMo last year for the first time on my other blog and it really helped to increase traffic. I’ll try it again this year on my new blog. One thing for sure is to plan for the week. That helped me tremendously.

    Liked by 1 person

  42. passionframework Oct 26th at 8:29 am

    I feel I can participate as have been penning a write up almost every day and the blog attracts good number of viewers. I thank all for this

    Liked by 1 person

  43. yasmin aksu Oct 26th at 2:23 pm

    … and if you happen to live in Berlin, Germany, come join us for a ‘Long Night of Writing’ on Friday, Nov 14th! We’ll meet around 8pm and work and write until 5am on Saturday. Inspiring workshops & coffee included! It’s just 15€ (to pay for the beautiful, spacious rooms… and the coffee), and we’re looking forward to lots of cool people. You’ll find more info (in German) on my blog. See you! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  44. Charlotte Ortega Oct 26th at 2:50 pm

    A word of warning! As much as I love wordpress, authors can run into publishing blocks if they publish a novel on wordpress and then want to publish elsewhere subsequently. Michelle would you kindly confirm that I am correct on this point.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Michelle W. Oct 26th at 7:44 pm

      I can’t offer a blanket denial/confirmation. Each publisher has different standards re: accepting previously published work, and whether they consider blogs “publishing.”

      Also, as a point of clarification, NaNoWriMo doesn’t ask or require that you publish your novel on a blog; it’s meant to be a personal challenge, and some folks decide to take it online.

      Liked by 2 people

  45. almostfreeNYC Oct 26th at 10:48 pm

    This is such an informative post! Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  46. monaresa Oct 26th at 11:40 pm

    I’ve been looking for a little push to get myself blogging on a regular basis-I think I found the answer! Can’t wait to start next weekend!

    Liked by 2 people

  47. Cindy Chandler Pye Oct 27th at 1:11 am

    I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time last year, and completed about a 53,000 word rough draft novel. I had a blast doing this, and had the most awesome support. I planned to do the same this year and write the sequel to the one from last year. The first one isn’t published yet, but close to 2nd editing. I have a blog already, but can’t wrap my mind around now the BloMo is supposed to work. I’m tempted to take a break on the first novel and go ahead and start the sequel even though I don’t have as much background material to draw from as I did for last year. Any ideas or advise; or opinions?

    Liked by 1 person

  48. Symanntha Renn Oct 27th at 3:32 am

    I write haiku and run a (mainly) haiku blog but I will be posting all forms/styles of poetry and quotes on the weekends. I can’t do the themed stuff. I hope Blogher lets me connect to their page!

    Liked by 1 person

  49. yvey67 Oct 27th at 9:57 am

    New to blogging and as a busy Mum trying to edit my first book and download ideas for my second one I’m not really concentrating on my blog – so this may be a good idea as it will force me to write something everyday! Happy writing and reading everyone.

    Liked by 1 person

  50. riturang Oct 27th at 10:48 am

    When I first read the title of this post I too thought its something to do with our revered Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi.
    This idea of a blogging or novel writing month is quite appealing. looking forward to it!

    Liked by 2 people

  51. labellestudio Oct 27th at 2:01 pm

    Preparing right now for NoBloPoMo in November 2014 and I am so excited!

    http://labellestudio.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

  52. crimson613 Oct 27th at 3:53 pm

    Never heard of this but it sounds like fun!!

    Liked by 1 person

  53. Amy P. Reed Oct 27th at 4:04 pm

    Hi, I’ve been doing NaNo since 2006 and I’ve won five of them. Last year was a total failure since I don’t think I even reached 2k. *head desk* I’ll be working on NaNo this year as well. I recently started a new blog about my writing, and I haven’t posted much. I think BloMo is what I might need to kick myself into blogging something, even if it’s brainstorming for NaNo.
    I’ll be posting a link to this on http://stevethewrimoforum.proboards.com I think there’s some over there that would love the challenge of blogging every day. 🙂

    Happy writing, everyone!

    Amy
    http://awrimosjourney.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

  54. lionelvaldellon Oct 27th at 5:45 pm

    Seems like an exciting project. Wondering if I can turn up enough content and marketing topics on a daily basis though for 30 days… This requires some thought.

    Liked by 1 person

  55. Joyce Poggi Hager Oct 27th at 5:45 pm

    My only concern is that my followers will feel overdosed with 30 consecutive days of posts. I feel that way myself, sometimes, when a blogger I follow posts too frequently.

    Liked by 2 people

  56. guildedinblack Oct 27th at 9:48 pm

    SQUEEE!!! So Excited been doing character write ups all Week!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  57. avpackard Oct 28th at 5:57 am

    Pretty excited in a WTF am I doing this again for kind of way.

    Liked by 2 people

  58. WordGeekGirl Oct 28th at 9:53 pm

    I’ve never done the blogging event before! Looking forward to participating in both events this year!

    Like

  59. TyCobbsTeeth Oct 28th at 10:13 pm

    This will be my first and I’m amped. I’ve been prepping notes for the last two months and cannot wait.
    Great post BTW.
    Good luck to all.
    Cheers!
    TyCobbsTeeth

    Liked by 1 person

  60. GreenBazaarAu Oct 28th at 11:55 pm

    Ok, let us prepare for the games to begin! 🙂

    Like

  61. augustmacgregor Oct 29th at 11:35 am

    Thank you for providing this background around NaNoWriMo to help spread the word about this! I’m excited to participate in my first NaNoWriMo this year — and wondering if I can churn out 50,000 words by the end of the month. I hadn’t heard of NaBloPoMo, so this one was new to me. As it turns out, I’ve scheduled quotes throughout the month of authors talking about writing and books — to inspire me and others who are particpating in NaNoWriMo. Thanks again for talking about these November events!

    Like

  62. 007pandas / Nomadic Adventurer Oct 30th at 1:46 am

    This should be easy, since I did this back in Aug, my first full month of blogging. I did it again during Blogging 101, when I learned to use the feature that allows me to set a date and time of the posting as I wrote several on a weekend and just stacked them up.

    This feature will allow me to focus more on my NaNoWrMo activities.

    Like

    • Ellen Count Oct 31st at 11:55 am

      My subject is vast, so many parts with NaBloPoMo potential! Looking forward to the writing exercise and to mastering WPtech through repetition — I’ll become more self-sufficient! But wait, Followers: avoid that hypnotic ad from Venus on my blog; don’t trip over the low-budget ad from Mars. Tough it out, guys — focus on my Earth-ly content! I promise, we’re not just workin’ out here in the (corporate) revenues gym.

      Liked by 1 person

  63. chetanrajn Oct 30th at 7:41 am

    Looks great. I think I heard about this last year too, but didn’t notice. Now I’m ready and excited to do this challenge. Let’s blog and build community.

    Like

  64. brionyjm Oct 30th at 10:14 am

    I successfully completed Nanowrimo for the second time last year and it felt amazing. Getting nervous now though with only 2 days to go. Would reallyyyy like to stick to it again this year… fingers crossed!

    Like

  65. joeckirby Oct 30th at 12:25 pm

    quite ready!

    Like

  66. funky_sheep Oct 30th at 1:38 pm

    I loved this post, I’d never heard on NaBloPoMo (hehehe, that name still makes me giggle…) before, and this has inspired me to give it a go! Let’s see how far I get…

    Like

  67. zjudra Oct 30th at 6:01 pm

    I’ve been procrastinating, time to get with it. This will be the boost I needed.

    Like

  68. Misbah Oct 31st at 1:09 pm

    very nice ! 🙂

    Like

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