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NaNoWriMo: A Cheater's Guide
Never won National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) before? Struggling to figure out what you're doing wrong?
You need to start cheating.
Your mother may have told you that "cheaters never win, and winners never cheat," but put that bunkum aside.
Winners work the system.
Winners use the tools to their own advantage.
Winners never stop writing.
And winners sure as hell don't believe that writing "The End" just because you hit 50K means you wrote a successful novel.
The Cheater's Guide to NaNoWriMo will hold your hand through all of the tips, tricks, cheats and hacks you'll need to finally finish that novel, get it off your hard drive, and publish it where real people can actually read it.
You may not become the next Stephen King, but you WILL finish your novel and win NaNoWriMo this year.
Ready to learn how? Join the Cheaters and beat the system.
You need to start cheating.
Your mother may have told you that "cheaters never win, and winners never cheat," but put that bunkum aside.
Winners work the system.
Winners use the tools to their own advantage.
Winners never stop writing.
And winners sure as hell don't believe that writing "The End" just because you hit 50K means you wrote a successful novel.
The Cheater's Guide to NaNoWriMo will hold your hand through all of the tips, tricks, cheats and hacks you'll need to finally finish that novel, get it off your hard drive, and publish it where real people can actually read it.
You may not become the next Stephen King, but you WILL finish your novel and win NaNoWriMo this year.
Ready to learn how? Join the Cheaters and beat the system.
- GenresWriting
94 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2015
13 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Laura Roberts
62 books142 followersLaura Roberts writes travel themed contemporary romance and short women’s fiction, with steamier stories under the pen name Laure L'Amour. She currently lives in Sacramento, California with her artist husband and their literary kitty, Percy. When she’s not writing, she can be found editing manuscripts for indie authors, transcribing reality TV (her day job), watching rom-coms, testing chocolate recipes, or searching for more typewriters to add to her collection.
Dabbling in both factual and fictional genres, Laura has penned 27 books for adults, including the alphabetical travel guides Montreal from A to Z and San Diego from A to Z, the offbeat writing guides NaNoWriMo: A Cheater's Guide and Confessions of a 3-Day Novelist, a collection of capital city meet-cutes called Sacramento Love , and various steamy romances under the pen name Laure L’Amour, as well as three nonfiction career guides for young adults (Careers in Gaming, Careers If You Like Music and Careers in Digital Media) published by ReferencePoint Press. She has also contributed shorter works to the following anthologies: SDW/EG's 5th edition of The Guilded Pen; Diane Lee's nonfiction collection, The Secret Lives of Writers; the cancer charity anthology Stardust, Always; Book Lovers: Sexy Stories from Under the Covers; Ironology 2014: The Iron Writer Championship Series, and Drabble Harvest #14: Extraterrestrial Reincarnation.
In addition to her writing, Laura is also the editor of the poetry collection Haiku for Lovers, and the ethnomusicological anthology Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned from Pop Songs, and the founder of the literary magazine Black Heart.
Dabbling in both factual and fictional genres, Laura has penned 27 books for adults, including the alphabetical travel guides Montreal from A to Z and San Diego from A to Z, the offbeat writing guides NaNoWriMo: A Cheater's Guide and Confessions of a 3-Day Novelist, a collection of capital city meet-cutes called Sacramento Love , and various steamy romances under the pen name Laure L’Amour, as well as three nonfiction career guides for young adults (Careers in Gaming, Careers If You Like Music and Careers in Digital Media) published by ReferencePoint Press. She has also contributed shorter works to the following anthologies: SDW/EG's 5th edition of The Guilded Pen; Diane Lee's nonfiction collection, The Secret Lives of Writers; the cancer charity anthology Stardust, Always; Book Lovers: Sexy Stories from Under the Covers; Ironology 2014: The Iron Writer Championship Series, and Drabble Harvest #14: Extraterrestrial Reincarnation.
In addition to her writing, Laura is also the editor of the poetry collection Haiku for Lovers, and the ethnomusicological anthology Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned from Pop Songs, and the founder of the literary magazine Black Heart.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 18, 2015
I absolutely LOVED this book for a number of reasons. Firstly, I adore Laura's writing style. She writes in an engaging, tell-it-like-is way that is also extremely encouraging. Having been a NaNoWriMo failure for more years than I can count, Laura gives me the permission to cheat, except it's not cheating. It's about achieving whatever *your* goals as a writer are, which she helps clarify.
Secondly, Laura takes you through a process for being successful (aka "cheating"). She also flags useful tools and apps and books (some of which I'd never heard of, so thank you!) that may be useful, as well how to deal with pesky NaNoWriMo distractions like Thanksgiving and Black Friday (which, thankfully being Australian means I don't have to deal with!).
Thirdly, I adore the fact that this book is also part memoir (which is kinda linked to my first point about the narrative being so engaging). She twists in her life experience and anecdotal tales that make her book so relatable, particularly as an author myself. Yes, we've all had crappy jobs, but if you keep your eyes on the prize and don't waver, you CAN achieve your goals. (I must say: from writing about Socrates to writing smut is an intriguing career change!). After reading this book, I feel that I feel better equipped to tackle NaNoWriMo this year, and who knows? I might even win!
Secondly, Laura takes you through a process for being successful (aka "cheating"). She also flags useful tools and apps and books (some of which I'd never heard of, so thank you!) that may be useful, as well how to deal with pesky NaNoWriMo distractions like Thanksgiving and Black Friday (which, thankfully being Australian means I don't have to deal with!).
Thirdly, I adore the fact that this book is also part memoir (which is kinda linked to my first point about the narrative being so engaging). She twists in her life experience and anecdotal tales that make her book so relatable, particularly as an author myself. Yes, we've all had crappy jobs, but if you keep your eyes on the prize and don't waver, you CAN achieve your goals. (I must say: from writing about Socrates to writing smut is an intriguing career change!). After reading this book, I feel that I feel better equipped to tackle NaNoWriMo this year, and who knows? I might even win!
October 13, 2015
Although I laughed a few times, this book had no true new tips to offer me for successfully completing NaNoWriMo. It was the same old: write, set goals, write, don't take a day off, write, here are some apps that will force you to write, you can use anything you write during November to pad your word count, just write.
October 10, 2019
Remember: Cheaters can be winners, too. Write!
September 30, 2017
While this has some useful hints and tips I personally like winning nanowrimo properly though I completely agree that really how ever long your first draft is is where your should stop.
October 23, 2022
Something to Read
I finished my NaNo prep and was desperately procrastinating working on my WIP, so I looked for NaNo themed books and found this one. While bringing little new to the table, it was a quick read and something to fill the time.
I finished my NaNo prep and was desperately procrastinating working on my WIP, so I looked for NaNo themed books and found this one. While bringing little new to the table, it was a quick read and something to fill the time.
November 22, 2019
A source for other sources.
She explains her sources and how she uses an outline to write stories quickly. The sources sound interesting, such as a book of plots. I looked it up and it's quite a bit of money. I had never heard of it before this book and don't know if I will ever use it so I don't know if there was much of a point to me reading this book or not yet. I recommend this book to anyone looking for other resources to help with writing.
She explains her sources and how she uses an outline to write stories quickly. The sources sound interesting, such as a book of plots. I looked it up and it's quite a bit of money. I had never heard of it before this book and don't know if I will ever use it so I don't know if there was much of a point to me reading this book or not yet. I recommend this book to anyone looking for other resources to help with writing.
December 10, 2024
Helped me win my first NaNoWriMo challenge! I did end up 'cheating' (counting my notes towards my final word count) but this guide really helped me feel confident enough to attempt the challenge and gave me a lot of helpful insight. I only docked a star because I wish there was more to it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews