Livia’s “I’ve Never Done NaNo Before” Question #4: Is this cheating?

So I had a total flash of lightning inspiration moment right now for the opening of my story. I tried to suppress it but that is like the opposite of everything. I mean lesbereal: resisting inspiration is like trying not to breathe.

So… I wrote. I wrote 296 words in October. For shame!

But they’re good! I really like them!

So… is it okay if I use them? Should I be disqualified? What if I write 50,296 words?

I’M SO SORRY!


  1. picturesfromthecameraoflauren answered: I guess it’s okay. It would make sense to make your word goal 50,296 words.
  2. zoepanas answered: Technically, I suppose so. But on the site it says that you can do this. You’re just a “rebel”. It’s writing, and witing is always good!
  3. yephire answered: Just start counting from 0 on november 1st :)
  4. oldwordsnew answered: You should look into how they do NaNoWriMo for 3rd graders. Very inspiring, and takes a lot of the feelings of cheating out.
  5. thewritersdoc reblogged this from yeahwriters and added:
    I’ve already written 11,772 words for my novel. The whole reason I’m joining NaNoWriMo is to finish the novel, since...
  6. lost-before-the-dawn answered: Keep them in a separate document and don’t count them for the 50k?
  7. marilynnadine answered: i don’t think that’s considered cheating. more like “mapping out your novel”…i already wrote a few paragraphs out for mine.
  8. abbylira answered: I’ve been following you or awhile now, and i still dont know what NaNo WriMpo is…help? sorry:/
  9. tilting-at-muses answered: I don’t think there’s any real “cheating” in Nano. If anything, that just makes you a NanoRebel - you get your own forum!
  10. roseofbattles answered: I think it counts. :D
  11. clubfang answered: Don’t count anything you write prior to 11/1. The counter begins at zero then, no matter what you have to that point. AND HAVE FUN!
  12. chrisfox answered: Go ahead! The point of NaNo is to INSPIRE you; it’s just a guideline for getting you to write. :) Besides, that’s barely a paragraph!
  13. electricjuicebox answered: Hmmm. Don’t include it with your novel until after the end of NaNo, I think. Technically, it’s not allowed.
  14. nerdygirlnextdoor answered: Write 50,296 words and I think you’ll be fine
  15. writergrrrl answered: I started my novel last nano, so I have about half my story written. Still aiming for 50k this nano.
  16. the-great--escapist answered: Let’s be real, I’m pretty sure you’re not going to be the only one to cheat. Just re-type it or something ;)
  17. crankyashley answered: It just needs to be 50K new words in addition to your old story. It wasn’t they originally intended, but it’s acceptable :)
  18. make-mad-the-guilty answered: I’ve done it before and usually just write extra. I think I wrote 16 words last year, and my final count was 50,268.
  19. bloodofthepen answered: Technically it is, but I don’t think anyone will notice, and if you write 50,296 words, I’m sure that would erase any guilt…
  20. motherfuckgepetto answered: Just re-write them in 48 hours, NOBODY WILL KNOW.
  21. perdixaloysius answered: Just don’t count it towards your word count until you hit 50k.
  22. luluisyoung answered: I think it’d be okay if you left those pages out of the count.
  23. happy-apathy answered: I’d rewrite them instead of just copying and pasting them in. You’re not disqualified.
  24. onqueerstreet answered: As long as you don’t count them toward the 50,000 you’re fine. They’re just bonus. :)
  25. austenappalled answered: Never suppress a good idea! The whole point of NaNo is to write a novel. Good luck!!!
  26. triceratopper answered: You can use them, but not count them toward your word count, if that makes sense.
  27. intrepid--poet answered: Same thing happened to me last year. I just didn’t add it to my word count until I hit 50k. :)
  28. yeahwriters posted this