You can write it out in any order you like; the goal, though, is to have a complete story of 50,000 words (or more!) written between November 1 and November 30.

That said, the order doesn’t have to be FINAL, and the in between doesn’t need to be perfect. Editing is best reserved for another month. Some people like December; I need at least three months away from the darned thing before I’m ready to look at it again.

In my experience, the stories come out in sequence, and are long enough naturally.

I have left out scenes that I didn’t know how to write, but I’ve never needed to come back to them to fill up the words.

You can write it in any order it comes to you :-)

Some people find it easier to write a detailed outline, like, with wordcounts for eaach scene and everything. For me, I like to write the scenes as they pop into my head. I feel like I get the most honest details that way.

Hope that helped!

Thanks for the advice everybody. This is my first time doing Nano so I’m trying to prepare for any eventuality.

I am hoping that things will come in the right order and at the right length. But whenever I’ve written in the past (my dissertations for example) I’ve always come up around 20% short.

I’ll just have to write and see…

I often write scenes and chapters out of order.

I have a hard time with beginnings, so I usually just jump in and start in the middle, and write the beginning last.

Also, if I get stuck and don’t know how to continue, then I just jump ahead to the next scene, or even several chapters ahead.

It’s the same as writing a test; if you get stuck on a question, skip it and do the rest, and then come back to it after. That way you don’t spend valuable time sitting there starting at the paper/screen.

If you finish the story and you don’t have enough words, you can always go back and expand on what’s already there, or add more description.

Good luck.

your project is a living entity. to “win” NaNoWriMo, you simply write to the number of words required and submit your manuscript. You are free to go back to it and re work it until you are satisfied, or not. You can write in any sequence that works for you. The length required is actually small for a novel: 50,000 words, about 175 pages. This is 1667 words per day. If you aim for 2000 words per day, you will be able to skip a day here and there. That was essential to me, with holidays and guests etc. I did not expect much, writing to such a deadline, but ended up very happy to have completed the project, with more confidence in my ability. Good luck to you, and enjoy the process.

The rule is there are no rules. It’s just about output, in any order you like.