My First Attempt at NaNoWriMo
Writing challenges have been a part of my life on and off for the last couple of years. I like to set myself challenges, usually how many days I have to post something online or that I have to write every single day. Up until now, it's always been challenges I've said myself and I have been able to determine the parameters. It has been a lot of fun but I thought it was time to join in with a very known, perhaps one of the most famous writing challenges: National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short.
It has been interesting. I think that adjective sums it up quite adequately. November has been a weird month. It usually tends to turn out that way. Classes stop about half-way through and then exam prep starts and takes over my life. This autumn so far, I've struggled with motivation to both study and write and do a lot of mundane tasks, so I was a little concerned that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I tried to remind myself that the NaNoWriMo goal of writing 50k shouldn't be that hard for me when I've generally been writing between 30-80k every month for the past two or so years. I write a whole lot. It's a creative exercise that keeps my mind happy and I love that I've been able to take people along on the journeys that I have come up and I get to bring characters to life that I would otherwise just have arguing in my head.
It's liberating, even if it's hard work and requires effort some days. Other times, the words will pour out of my like I'm a tap that has just been opened and I just keep gushing up more and more words on the page. When things feel stupid or I can't make sense of how I'm feeling, I take to my keyboard and write. When I want to do something fun and challenging, I'll sit down to write a fictional universe and commit to my characters and my world. By the time the characters get put into a story, I've usually had them in my head for quite some time already.
I had one particular story that had been in my head since the initial idea had come to me in August 2016, when I had been doing one of my other writing challenges. It was a small idea but over the following year I expanded upon it and while the initial idea was for a fanfiction in an alternate universe, it quickly moved away to be come an entirely original work. Dozens of nights I would lead my mind into those characters' universe as I was about to fall asleep and I loved "watching" them interact and figure each other out.
However, with current stories being posted and knowing an original work likely wouldn't gather much attention or support online, I kept pushing it off. It wasn't something that I could finish quickly. It was a long story already before I had put down anything other than my plot and character notes. I got talking with a few online friends that were doing NaNoWriMo and I decided to join in despite the somewhat poor timing and my general lack of motivation as of late.
The month was off to a slow start. I committed to writing every single day and I did but more often than not I didn't reach the 1,667 words I should have written each day to have a perfectly aligned line for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to make it but then I started picking up momentum with about a week left of the challenge. I knew the characters better. I was moving onto some of the scenes I had imagined writing for so long. I was having fun. I reached the goal word count with one day to spare. I made it to the final base without tripping or crashing horribly.
It was a very satisfying feeling to finally see those bars go over the grey line. I think it manages to showcase what working under pressure can do to you. I needed that deadline to get me to put aside more time to work effiencetly on writing and I was lucky enough that I also reached a part of the novel that was easier to write. I still spent so much of my days dillydallying around but writing on this story was something stable for me to hold onto and I wanted to work on it. I wanted to carry it across that 50,000 words threshold.
The story, which is under the operating title of WINGS, is far from finished. If I were to wager a guess, and realistically I shouldn't because once I start writing I always write more than I expect, I would say that it is perhaps about 1/3 done. I still have more pivotal characters that I want to introduce into the mix. Our main character is still mistrustful towards all the new people coming into her life and she'll need time to come to grasps with the fact that her life is very different from how she thought it would be. She has to go against behaving how she was raised and it isn't an easy task, but thankfully she has some friends along the way, even if she isn't quick to accept any type of help.
I love my set of characters for this story and this universe. I am looking forward to continue working with them in the future, even if it won't be an everyday occurrence anymore. I will still keep them on at least a weekly schedule to keep them fresh in my mind. But for now, I will allow myself to be smug over the little purple WINNER on my profile on nanowrimo.org.
It was a bit odd to be in a challenge where I couldn't determine the parameters like I usually would, or rather I chose to play by the usual NaNoWriMo rules. Thankfully, the site and the challenge allow you to change your target word count to suit you and you are considered a winner when you have more words on November 30 than on November 1. I decided to write the dates out in the American style since that's how they say it in the winner video with this challenge originating from USA but it still feels a little weird. To my European brain it seems completely illogical and backwards.
One of my friends who did the challenge with me has been participating in NaNoWriMo for eight years. She's a veteran at this stuff and she's even so lovely that she donated in the name of me and our two other friends that participated as newbies. We did some writing sessions alongside each other on mywriteclub.com and you really shouldn't downplay how much the sense of community can matter. We cheered each other on every step of the way and for a writer who usually writes completely solitarily it took some getting used to but I warmed up to the platform quicker than I thought I would. It was especially helpful when you were struggling yourself because I found when the words flowed, I didn't pay attention to anything other than just typing.
The world around me seem to fade away and cease to exist when I'm in a good writing flow. It's just my mind and my hands working in unison and nothing but my own imagination to set the boundaries of what I can or can't write.
It's been a while since I did one of those little quote things but I think I'm bringing it back. I'm proud of how I manage to put words together. Not always but sometimes and I shouldn't be afraid to celebrate that. I have some good lines in the start of this novel where I instantly started smiling when I thought of the words and typed them out. Writing is a marvellous thing and I think I'll continue to find ways to push and challenge myself to get better at the craft. I wonder if I'll one day look back at this post if WINGS ever turns out to be something more? Only time will tell.
It has been interesting. I think that adjective sums it up quite adequately. November has been a weird month. It usually tends to turn out that way. Classes stop about half-way through and then exam prep starts and takes over my life. This autumn so far, I've struggled with motivation to both study and write and do a lot of mundane tasks, so I was a little concerned that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I tried to remind myself that the NaNoWriMo goal of writing 50k shouldn't be that hard for me when I've generally been writing between 30-80k every month for the past two or so years. I write a whole lot. It's a creative exercise that keeps my mind happy and I love that I've been able to take people along on the journeys that I have come up and I get to bring characters to life that I would otherwise just have arguing in my head.
It's liberating, even if it's hard work and requires effort some days. Other times, the words will pour out of my like I'm a tap that has just been opened and I just keep gushing up more and more words on the page. When things feel stupid or I can't make sense of how I'm feeling, I take to my keyboard and write. When I want to do something fun and challenging, I'll sit down to write a fictional universe and commit to my characters and my world. By the time the characters get put into a story, I've usually had them in my head for quite some time already.
I had one particular story that had been in my head since the initial idea had come to me in August 2016, when I had been doing one of my other writing challenges. It was a small idea but over the following year I expanded upon it and while the initial idea was for a fanfiction in an alternate universe, it quickly moved away to be come an entirely original work. Dozens of nights I would lead my mind into those characters' universe as I was about to fall asleep and I loved "watching" them interact and figure each other out.
However, with current stories being posted and knowing an original work likely wouldn't gather much attention or support online, I kept pushing it off. It wasn't something that I could finish quickly. It was a long story already before I had put down anything other than my plot and character notes. I got talking with a few online friends that were doing NaNoWriMo and I decided to join in despite the somewhat poor timing and my general lack of motivation as of late.
The month was off to a slow start. I committed to writing every single day and I did but more often than not I didn't reach the 1,667 words I should have written each day to have a perfectly aligned line for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to make it but then I started picking up momentum with about a week left of the challenge. I knew the characters better. I was moving onto some of the scenes I had imagined writing for so long. I was having fun. I reached the goal word count with one day to spare. I made it to the final base without tripping or crashing horribly.
It was a very satisfying feeling to finally see those bars go over the grey line. I think it manages to showcase what working under pressure can do to you. I needed that deadline to get me to put aside more time to work effiencetly on writing and I was lucky enough that I also reached a part of the novel that was easier to write. I still spent so much of my days dillydallying around but writing on this story was something stable for me to hold onto and I wanted to work on it. I wanted to carry it across that 50,000 words threshold.
The story, which is under the operating title of WINGS, is far from finished. If I were to wager a guess, and realistically I shouldn't because once I start writing I always write more than I expect, I would say that it is perhaps about 1/3 done. I still have more pivotal characters that I want to introduce into the mix. Our main character is still mistrustful towards all the new people coming into her life and she'll need time to come to grasps with the fact that her life is very different from how she thought it would be. She has to go against behaving how she was raised and it isn't an easy task, but thankfully she has some friends along the way, even if she isn't quick to accept any type of help.
I love my set of characters for this story and this universe. I am looking forward to continue working with them in the future, even if it won't be an everyday occurrence anymore. I will still keep them on at least a weekly schedule to keep them fresh in my mind. But for now, I will allow myself to be smug over the little purple WINNER on my profile on nanowrimo.org.
It was a bit odd to be in a challenge where I couldn't determine the parameters like I usually would, or rather I chose to play by the usual NaNoWriMo rules. Thankfully, the site and the challenge allow you to change your target word count to suit you and you are considered a winner when you have more words on November 30 than on November 1. I decided to write the dates out in the American style since that's how they say it in the winner video with this challenge originating from USA but it still feels a little weird. To my European brain it seems completely illogical and backwards.
One of my friends who did the challenge with me has been participating in NaNoWriMo for eight years. She's a veteran at this stuff and she's even so lovely that she donated in the name of me and our two other friends that participated as newbies. We did some writing sessions alongside each other on mywriteclub.com and you really shouldn't downplay how much the sense of community can matter. We cheered each other on every step of the way and for a writer who usually writes completely solitarily it took some getting used to but I warmed up to the platform quicker than I thought I would. It was especially helpful when you were struggling yourself because I found when the words flowed, I didn't pay attention to anything other than just typing.
The world around me seem to fade away and cease to exist when I'm in a good writing flow. It's just my mind and my hands working in unison and nothing but my own imagination to set the boundaries of what I can or can't write.
By a Girl who Loves to Write aka Me
It's been a while since I did one of those little quote things but I think I'm bringing it back. I'm proud of how I manage to put words together. Not always but sometimes and I shouldn't be afraid to celebrate that. I have some good lines in the start of this novel where I instantly started smiling when I thought of the words and typed them out. Writing is a marvellous thing and I think I'll continue to find ways to push and challenge myself to get better at the craft. I wonder if I'll one day look back at this post if WINGS ever turns out to be something more? Only time will tell.
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