It’s been a while since I have posted a Writing Insight, but November is the perfect month to dive into a little bit of NaNoWriMo. It’s the third year I am participating and for those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s quite the international venture though, with people from all over the world trying to write 50,000 words for the first draft of their novel in 30 days. Of course you can rebel and edit a previous work, choose your own word count or don’t write a comprehensive story at all. The spirit of the event is to write, no matter how you do it!
When I first tried, I “won” immediately, the second time around I honestly didn’t even try as hard (but I am still proud of getting to 25,000 words) and this year? Well, I am semi-nanowrimo-ing. My current WIP is called Arcadia, as I’ve mentioned several times before, and I don’t just want to rush it. However, I do try to write something every day. (If you haven’t seen it yet, you can read the Prologue + 6 Chapters right here!) So, there’s something that just really makes me want to participate, even when I don’t have the time or brain cells to be full in and here’s why:
- I know that NaNoWriMo is a pressure of sorts, but it is also a lot of motivation. I am a competitive person, so when I get a task with a specific goal, such as reaching a certain word target each day, I WANT to do it. Also, you can earn badges and I just want to have them aaaaall!
- If you sign up on the official NaNoWriMo website, you can connect with fellow writers online by adding them as writing buddies (my handle is Kat_Impossible if you want to add me!) BUT you can also come together with people from your region. This isn’t happening everywhere, but many places try to organise kick-off events, write-ins and planning sessions. It’s a fun way to meet new people who have similar interests to you and to find people who will hold you accountable during the month!
- Whatever you write, know that it is not supposed to be perfect. The whole point of this venture is to get you to creative freedom. Write away, leave all the plotholes in the world in it and at the end of the month, you will have a first rough draft of your story and it’s the most glorious feeling! I am holding back this year, because I am sharing my story as I write it. That’s a scary thing in itself, but I at least try to make sense with it nonetheless. I am not saying that it won’t need a lot of work and time to edit Arcadia in the end, but it might be the tiniest bit easier than it would be if I didn’t care at all.
In the end, there’s no right or wrong way to do NaNoWriMo. I kept this post intentionally short, because I was wondering if you had specific quesitons about that topic? Have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo? Did you like the experience or not? Let’s discuss in the comments!
I would try out NaNoWriMo this year but I’ve been busy enough as it is and I haven’t even written anything worth anything in about 6 months. I am the worst at just writing, not caring about the grammer or whether it makes sense or not. No matter how hard I try, I always find myself going back and removing entire paragraphs just because they sound weird to me. I wish you the best of luck this year!
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That’s okay! I can’t completely shut off and not care about anything either. However, I tend to write a whole chapter and than shortly revise that and go on afterwards.
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I need to keep the it doesn’t have to be perfect thing close to my heart. I’m close to hating what I;m writing actually
http://www.curious-daisy.com/writing/nanowrimo-update-tips-on-how-to-survive/
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Oh no!!! Don’t hate it! I am sure there is something in what you’ve written that is great! But worst case, you can always just start over, but don’t delete anything. It still counts as your word count.
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I really wasn’t going to participate this year but I ended doing it and starting my novel 5 days into November and I currently have 10k and I’m was never aiming for 50k because that’s just now how I work in terms of pacing + actually having time to write everyday isn’t that easy for me in November. I’m just aiming to get to past 12.5k which was what I got the last time (and also first time) I did NaNo in 2013.
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That’s still amazing! I think the word count doesn’t really matter, it’s more about committing to your story 😀
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I’ve never participated but I love the enthusiasm and support it sparks in everyone! 🙂
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I never thought that this would be for me, but I adore it, even when I am nowhere near the supposed goal.
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Don’t worry about the goal, as long as it’s fun!
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Out of pure selfishness and curiosity, have you read my chapters of Arcadia so far?
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Don’t laugh at me but I’m scared of Wattpad and I can’t find anything on it *hides in despair*
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I actually find that super cute. Technology is frightening, I can’t wait to be an old grandma who isn’t expected to know how everything works. Do you want me to send you a pdf-file?
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Me too! I’m tired of everyone waiting for me to know everything about the Internet, laptops and phones! I keep saying I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time, it’s a miracle I manage to use WP daily and it’s simply because it’s not very complicated… when it works! oooh, can you? I’d love to read it!!!
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Done! I sent it to your blog’s mail address.
I feel like all the older generations just expect us to know exactly how things work, as if we were some sort of technical geniuses, just because we can handle a smart phone.
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😘 Thank you! Yes, I’d like them to understand we don’t have the Computer gene!
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Well done! I love hearing about other people’s NaNo journeys. I participated a few times in the early 2000’s before I realized that I honestly wasn’t that interested. I love the idea of writing 50,000 words and the community which supports you, but I don’t really have any ideas for stories. I just want to read. 😄 Good luck, Kat!! I hope that you get some really awesome stuff written down.
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I hear you, sometimes you just don’t have a story in mind and then this doesn’t work AT ALL. I am glad you still enjoyed my post and I hope you’ll check out Arcadia some day. It’s like my baby hahaha
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This is making me want to do NaNoWriMo SO badly ahah. I’m glad you’re trying to write a little something everyday. I want to do this as well, but as you know, it’s a struggle. What I love the most about this, is how it brings people together, motivate each other to write more, write, and write, and get all the ideas out there. It’s such a positive energy, I love it 🙂
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I get it. Maybe you can do Camp NaNo when you are less busy or more settled in your job? I definitely hear you on the energy thing though. I almost fell asleep on my way back home the other day, I was just exhausted. How is one supposed to form sentences like that?
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Yeah I’m hoping to. NaNo really gives me some kind of schedule and forces me to write, and sometimes I need it ahah.
Ugh this happens to me a lot as well on the train. I wish we could just…not sleep and be okay ahah, we’d do SO MUCH :p
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Yes! The schedule is something that really gets me going. I am at a loss without some kind of structure.
I do like dreaming though and sleep is kind of necessary for that. I even dreamt about Dyson the other day … man, he wasn’t happy. Then I felt guilty for not writing, but there has been a lack of inspiration for a couple of days.
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Yes I have exactly the same issue. I just don’t know how to organize my writing time these days. I don’t have writing time left ahah.
Ohh well…it means you are still thinking a lot about your story, and that’s a good sign! I hope inspiration will come back soon<3
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Thanks ❤ I really hope so too! Dyson needs to talk a bit about Arcadia.
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OH YES he does, ahah,I want to know…what was it again? Oh, right. ALL THE THINGS. :p
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hahaha I know!!! But I can hardly make it an info dump, can I?
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No you’re right, it needs to come gradually 🙂
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Exactly! So I need time hahaha
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Haha yes, I’ll try to be patient 😛
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[…] for those who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is: It stands for National Novel Writing Month and is a yearly event that takes place during the […]
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