Tackling NaNoWriMo!
November is National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo.
During this month writers challenge themselves to write 50,000 words between 12am November 1st and 11:59pm November 30th.
Last year (2014) was my first year participating, and although I didn't make it anywhere near my goal (my end count was just over 13,000 words); I really enjoyed learning about this event, as well as participating and pushing myself to get more serious about writing. After all, if I want to be a published authoress one of these days, the number one thing I am going to have to do is write! A lot. And before NaNo, it had been quite awhile since I had flexed my creative writing muscles. This event proved to be just the push I needed to get back to this dream deferred though.
Now I am ready for this beast of a writing challenge. Last year was practice, this year will be game time!
First of all, when I signed up for NaNo last year I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had never even heard of National Novel Writing Month until a friend of mine introduced me to the concept and directed me to the website. She had participated in past years and now is well on her way to having her first novel published.
I'll admit I initially underestimated NaNo, I underestimated her greatly. November 1st came, and I was all like 'fifty thousand words?! Ha! I could write that in my sleep!'
It was smooth sailing, too, at first.
It wasn't until I started getting into the thick of the challenge and my story that meeting daily word count goals became like running through mud. I began to struggle with prioritizing and adhering to the times I had set aside to write. Once I had gotten down that initial burst of inspiration for my story, it became more difficult to generate the words I needed to move the tale along. It was much easier to get distracted by all the other "more important" things I could be doing, than to make myself write through the blocks.
But doesn't that just get down to the core of being a serious writer? It requires dedication, strict time management, and most of all persistence. Especially when you have those days where you sit down in front of your preferred word capture device and draw a complete blank.
Oh well, lesson learned right? This year, I plan to enter into NaNo fully prepared and ready to give 110% to writing not only the required 50k, but to end November with a finished novel. Well, first draft at least. Let's not get crazy here.
I invite you all to join me!
Participation in NaNoWriMo is free. All you have to do is visit http://nanowrimo.org and sign up. If you do, feel free to add me as a writing buddy. My handle is GreenGrl87. Once you sign up, you will be able to join with other NaNo writers in your area for meet-ups and group writing sessions, if that's your thing. You can also shoot me an email at GreenGrl87@gmail.com if you want to connect, share resources or swap adventures.
One of the rules I am setting for myself during NaNo is that I will be trying to conserve my writing energy and words for my novel. So, instead of regular blog posts during November, you can check me out on the Unfiltered Grind YouTube Channel for updates on my NaNo Progress and random frustrated rants. I'm sure I'll have quite a few of those come mid-month.
Have you participated in NaNo in the past? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
During this month writers challenge themselves to write 50,000 words between 12am November 1st and 11:59pm November 30th.
Last year (2014) was my first year participating, and although I didn't make it anywhere near my goal (my end count was just over 13,000 words); I really enjoyed learning about this event, as well as participating and pushing myself to get more serious about writing. After all, if I want to be a published authoress one of these days, the number one thing I am going to have to do is write! A lot. And before NaNo, it had been quite awhile since I had flexed my creative writing muscles. This event proved to be just the push I needed to get back to this dream deferred though.
Now I am ready for this beast of a writing challenge. Last year was practice, this year will be game time!
First of all, when I signed up for NaNo last year I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had never even heard of National Novel Writing Month until a friend of mine introduced me to the concept and directed me to the website. She had participated in past years and now is well on her way to having her first novel published.
I'll admit I initially underestimated NaNo, I underestimated her greatly. November 1st came, and I was all like 'fifty thousand words?! Ha! I could write that in my sleep!'
It was smooth sailing, too, at first.
It wasn't until I started getting into the thick of the challenge and my story that meeting daily word count goals became like running through mud. I began to struggle with prioritizing and adhering to the times I had set aside to write. Once I had gotten down that initial burst of inspiration for my story, it became more difficult to generate the words I needed to move the tale along. It was much easier to get distracted by all the other "more important" things I could be doing, than to make myself write through the blocks.
Me circa week two of 2014 NaNoWriMo.
Oh well, lesson learned right? This year, I plan to enter into NaNo fully prepared and ready to give 110% to writing not only the required 50k, but to end November with a finished novel. Well, first draft at least. Let's not get crazy here.
I invite you all to join me!
Participation in NaNoWriMo is free. All you have to do is visit http://nanowrimo.org and sign up. If you do, feel free to add me as a writing buddy. My handle is GreenGrl87. Once you sign up, you will be able to join with other NaNo writers in your area for meet-ups and group writing sessions, if that's your thing. You can also shoot me an email at GreenGrl87@gmail.com if you want to connect, share resources or swap adventures.
One of the rules I am setting for myself during NaNo is that I will be trying to conserve my writing energy and words for my novel. So, instead of regular blog posts during November, you can check me out on the Unfiltered Grind YouTube Channel for updates on my NaNo Progress and random frustrated rants. I'm sure I'll have quite a few of those come mid-month.
Have you participated in NaNo in the past? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
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