7 YA Must-Reads That Started As NaNoWriMo Projects

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell
Already the author of two published books, including her lauded Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell was skeptical about NaNoWriMo, which she viewed as something for “people who needed to be tricked into finishing their books.” But the idea of having a “pile of 50,000 words” appealed, and so she got to work on what would become Fangirl. She got halfway through a workable draft during her NaNo adventure, and spent the next year wrapping up the project. “It’s some of the bravest writing I’ve ever done, and it includes my all-time favorite character, a guy I think I would’ve second-guessed to death under normal circumstances,” Rowell wrote in her NaNo Peptalk. “NaNoWriMo helped me push past so many of my doubts and insecurities and bad habits. And I think that’s partly why I love Fangirl so much now—because I remember how swept away I felt when I was writing it.”

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. At least that seems to be the case for bestseller Marissa Meyer, who wrote her bestselling Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress during NaNo madness. And not only did she win NaNo with her first draft of Cinder, she beat the 50K count by a longshot. “Oh, the crazy NaNoWriMo that was November 2008,” Meyer wrote on her website. “That year I decided to challenge myself and instead of writing the expected 50,000 words in 30 days, I wrote 150,000. (150,011 to be exact.)” Her inspiration? A word war with a kickass prize: a walk-on role on Star Trek. And believe it or not, she didn’t win. But in a way, she did. The spit draft included the first take on Cinder, as well her follow-ups Scarlet and Cress. After setting the work aside for a few months, she revisited and revised for nearly two years—and the rest is New York Times bestseller history. Take heart, writers: that inspired NaNo was Meyer’s third. If you need a swig of whatever she’s drinking, check out her NaNo pep talk!

Side Effects May Vary, by Julie Murphy
Before Murphy stole hearts with Dumplin’, she made a splash with her debut, Side Effects May Vary, about a teen whose terminal cancer inspires her to tell everyone how she really feels about them—who then discovers she’s going to survive. The book was a NaNo accomplishment—and drafted during her first challenge. “Man, I love NaNo. To me, it’s the Ironman Triathalon of writing—but with more junk food provisions—because if you’ve completed it, you wear it as a badge of honor,” she said in a NaNo chat. “Plus, I thrive on a deadline. Without a deadline, I fall headfirst into my Netflix queue. And, ya know, the constant social media peer pressure doesn’t hurt.”

Assassin’s Heart, by Sarah Ahiers
Way back in 2012, when author Sarah Ahiers was working on the draft of what would become her debut, Assassin’s Heart—pitched as Romeo & Juliet meets Game of Thrones—she was quite the NaNo vet, having done (and won) four. But she admits she was a bit of a NaNo rebel, revisiting and revising during another November race. “I wrote the first 50K for NaNoWriMo 2011, and then put it aside to finish up revisions on another MS,” she has said about her process. “Then I wrote the second 50K for NaNo 2012 and spent most of 2013 revising it. Sloooowly. My goal was to take my time with revisions because I worried that rushing revisions were the downfalls of my last two manuscripts I queried.”

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan
Ryan’s debut, thriller The Forest of Hands And Teeth, has NaNo to thank for its existence. She never would have written it otherwise. Way back in 2006, struggling to figure out her next project, “I asked my husband, ‘What should I write?’  He said, ‘Write what you love.’  I said, ‘That would be the zombie apocalypse but NO ONE wants to read about that.’ He gave me that ‘you know I’m right’ look. He was right,” Ryan wrote on her blog. “I didn’t ‘win’ NaNo.  But that was okay. I’d spent so much of 2006 trying to write a book that might sell and I don’t know if I ever would have ‘wasted’ time on a project I didn’t think would go anywhere. Except that NaNo had given me this freedom to just take a month and write.  On a project that probably wouldn’t sell. And using a brand new voice.” Of course, Teeth became Ryan’s bestselling debut, and led to a long and successful career.

Anna And the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
Not quite ready? Dive in anyway. That’s the advice Stephanie Perkins—who wrote all three books in the Anna trilogy as NaNo projects—offers up. And she knows from experience. “There’s often a misconception that NaNo is about writing a book in a month. I mean, National Novel Writing Month. It’s there in the title! But that’s really not what it’s about,” Perkins has said. “It’s about creating a first, very very rough draft that you can eventually—with a lot of hard work—turn into a novel….So…just barrel through it. Write anything. Seriously. Anything. Word count is still word count!”

Under the Lights, by Dahlia Adler
Our very own Dahlia Adler has powered through NaNoWriMo to draft at least two of her books—her debut Behind the Scenes and its follow-up, Hollywood romance Under the Lights. But Adler knows from experience that “winning NaNo” doesn’t a complete book make. “If you *do* win #NaNoWriMo, congrats on drafting 50K! That’s not the same thing as finishing a book, even if you’ve hit The End,” she tweeted recently. “Of all the things that might derail you during #NaNoWriMo, don’t let fear of ‘Will this book sell?’ be one of them. Just write.”