A Novel in a month?!
In the month of November, I posted a picture on my Instagram and my Facebook, with a super excited face, about being part of some strange thing called Nanowrimo. I figured it was time for an update and give a little explanation about my Nanowrimo experience.
I heard about Nanowrimo sometime in 2015 but I didn’t feel I was ready to take on such a daunting task at that point in my life. When it came to writing that amount of words, (50k to be exact), it made me cower in the dark corner of my brain. Since, I’ve heard about it, I’ve been working on trying to write something everyday. Not for Nanowrimo, just for disciplining myself as a writer in general. It sounds much easier than it is in reality (for me at least). With the general discipline almost in tact, I felt I was not only ready but capable of accomplishing this challenge this time around.
I signed up, looked around the website, (www.nanowrimo.org) and took my time trying to get acquainted with it. The first task the page asks is for you to sign up and make a profile. Easy peasey, Unbecoming Jayne is already my thing. But, then I needed a name and some information about my novel that wasn’t even written yet. I had to log off for a couple days to think about that. I came up with a name and then a couple days later a one sentence summary on what I had planned on writing. (If you write, you may notice your plans don’t always workout, so, it was just a filler at that point) I also created a picture on my phone to be my temporary book cover. So my profile was set. I had a little plan, (when I say plan it’s Saschia’s idea of a plan which is more like a fantastical idea in my head that is usually completely unrealistic). Ok, so, I feel like a newb, but, I feel like I have it all in order and I begin to search the site a little more in depth. I find the site has options for setting and recording goals, writing buddies, forums, and writing meetups. Like, other writers would come out of their magical creative places, write together, and talk about life! Growing up going to three different youth groups a week, this was like my adult writing version of that. They were great and I got to meet with other writers who struggle with the same writing problems I do. They are fun “normal” people from all over Ct. (I think there’s a stigma that writers look abnormal lol but that might just be me and my fantastical imagination.) My group even had a super awesome leader or in Nano language Municipal Liaison who planned write-ins around Connecticut’s coastline. She brought super awesome prizes and was uplifting and understanding when it came to writing. She was also knowledgeable and wrote along side us. I think writing groups are a fabulous idea. I don’t know if there are tons of them already and I just don’t know where to look but, they’re great.
How’d I do, you ask? Did I finish my 50k word novel in a month? No, I didn’t. Yes, I was pretty disappointed about it. I said I was shelfing my book. One time I even yelled at the peaceful dinner table that I wanted to burn it in the back yard. It was a random outburst and it made everyone at the table uncomfortable. So, I threw a smile in at the end. I think it helped. On the great side of all this, after stewing over losing the game, I have 30k words written and a great rough draft to work from! It can be expanded on and turned into so many different things. Plus, after printing out 60 pages of my rough draft to read over and mark up, I was floored. I was literally watching each page print from the printer. That was my consequential pat on the back.
So with all that, yes, I plan to keep doing Nanwrimo every year. I think it is a great community for writers. And yes I have a novel in the works and Yes, I think you all should sign up for it and plan to do it with me next year. 🙂 I’ll post the link here again you know, just in case you decide to click it and signup so all the libraries in New London county create a huge section in the library that is dedicated to only locally written novels. Remember most of the great writers come from New England. lol Might as well prove it.