Huge congratulations to first-time Mighty Pens participant Sanya Macadam! We’ve had so much fun sprinting with her and chatting in the Discord. It’s not her first time winning Nano, but we’re excited to celebrate her first Mighty Pen badge.

Check out her profile on NaNoWriMo, and follow her on Twitter!

Read on to find out how to win Nano! Maybe. (Besides joining the Mighty Pens, of course…)

What made you want to join the Mighty Pens this year?

Kim asked if I wanted to and thought, “why not?” haha. But also, the choice of charity, especially after hearing Sooz’s story and how things went down for her this spring were a great encouragement. Really, there was no reason not to.

What was a frustrating part of NaNo/the Mighty Pens this year? What was rewarding?

Frustrating was realizing I had deviated from my already meager plans (plotter, I am not). It really derailed my basic plot and getting back on track proved hard which meant a lot of my words felt useless knowing they’d be cut in the next draft.

Rewarding was finally being able to get back to writing after being away from it so long. I wasn’t sure if I still had it in me, so proving to myself that I could and doing it well enough that I not only completed NaNo, but did it ahead of schedule feels GREAT.

What’s currently your favorite part of your NaNo project? 

Hmm I have mostly a zero draft at this point, so it really just exists for the sake of having something to work with rather than be appreciated, but I really like the idea itself. It’s very different from what I’ve worked on in the past and it’s exciting to realize that I can write a diverse own voices story and no one can tell me no. It’s not something I had much of growing up so I love that people could get excited at the thought of seeing themselves on page.

What advice would you give yourself for NaNoWriMo/the Mighty Pens 2021?

Set a time to write and write at that time every single day. The consistency really helps. Words can be harder some days, but try mixing it up with little challenges for yourself, like rolling a die and multiplying your roll by 100 then sprinting to that many words. Also, even without challenges, sprints are your best friend. It doesn’t matter if the words are good, as long as they exist because you will redraft and edit later. Even ignore your typos if you’re able (if the squiggles bother you, turn of spelling/grammar checking).

Great advice, Sani! Congratulations again on your victorious Nano!