Hi guys,
So, if you didn't already know, this month is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)! I decided that enough is enough, and I'm going to get my book written and maybe even out into the world someday.
I'm going to try and do my best do write weekly updates about my journey writing this, because the fact that I'm finally writing this (especially about something so close to home) really means a lot to me.
Basically the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in the month of November (and I started 3 days late, so I'm smart). If you want to keep up with my most updated count, add me as a buddy on the actual website, which I have linked right here.
As of right now, I'm at 9,088 words (while I should be at 15,000, again I started 3 days late and I'm pretty much on par with 3 days ago). Basically what happened was that I made my chapters really short, because I wanted to get to a certain point in the story. When I finally got to that point (which was chapter 10 of 20), I realized that I am even more of a dum dum than usual because I've been really neglecting my chapters and was halfway through the story at 7,000 words. So, I have gone BACK to the beginning of my book and have started adding more description and scenes to lengthen my chapters. I got this suggestion from the wonderful Paige (Enchantology on YouTube), so please go check out her channel, she was super helpful and replied to my distress tweet, so thank you so much Paige! (She's also at 30K and I'm super jealous)
My first three chapters, which were 700, 400 and 300 words respectively are now 1900, 1500 and 1400 now. I'm still going through them and adding a lot more scenes and details to try and make my characters more realistic and help readers better connect with them.
I'm really keeping my plot under wraps, and really just trying to get all the words out before I start talking about it on here. I have very few close friends who have read bits and pieces to give me feedback on, but honestly no one knows too much.
Thankfully, my whole family is being super supportive about this and giving me peace and quiet to write (most of the time). Somehow I am still managing this with school, but we'll see how that continues to go on (also just ponder over the fact that the day I wrote the least was actually a Saturday).
The biggest thing I can say to students specifically doing NaNoWriMo is to keep your phone or a notebook with you at all times, because you never know when you'll have five extra minutes to write. I write between classes, on the bus, if I finish a test early. I even wrote at a party (yes, I wrote 1200 words on my phone in under an hour at a PARTY). Inspiration is going to strike everywhere and you need to keep it all in the same place. Also, having an outline is one of the most helpful things ever, just because you figure out exactly where you want to go, but can leave it broad enough that there are some creative decisions you can make based on what you're feeling at that instance. I did some character mapping for my main character which gave her a lot more personality for me to convey in the text.
Good luck to everyone out there, and don't lose hope! We can all do this!
Caramel
B L O G | I N S T A G R A M | T W I T T E R | E M A I L | G O O D R E A D S | G O O G L E +
So, if you didn't already know, this month is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)! I decided that enough is enough, and I'm going to get my book written and maybe even out into the world someday.
I'm going to try and do my best do write weekly updates about my journey writing this, because the fact that I'm finally writing this (especially about something so close to home) really means a lot to me.
Basically the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in the month of November (and I started 3 days late, so I'm smart). If you want to keep up with my most updated count, add me as a buddy on the actual website, which I have linked right here.
As of right now, I'm at 9,088 words (while I should be at 15,000, again I started 3 days late and I'm pretty much on par with 3 days ago). Basically what happened was that I made my chapters really short, because I wanted to get to a certain point in the story. When I finally got to that point (which was chapter 10 of 20), I realized that I am even more of a dum dum than usual because I've been really neglecting my chapters and was halfway through the story at 7,000 words. So, I have gone BACK to the beginning of my book and have started adding more description and scenes to lengthen my chapters. I got this suggestion from the wonderful Paige (Enchantology on YouTube), so please go check out her channel, she was super helpful and replied to my distress tweet, so thank you so much Paige! (She's also at 30K and I'm super jealous)
My first three chapters, which were 700, 400 and 300 words respectively are now 1900, 1500 and 1400 now. I'm still going through them and adding a lot more scenes and details to try and make my characters more realistic and help readers better connect with them.
I'm really keeping my plot under wraps, and really just trying to get all the words out before I start talking about it on here. I have very few close friends who have read bits and pieces to give me feedback on, but honestly no one knows too much.
Thankfully, my whole family is being super supportive about this and giving me peace and quiet to write (most of the time). Somehow I am still managing this with school, but we'll see how that continues to go on (also just ponder over the fact that the day I wrote the least was actually a Saturday).
The biggest thing I can say to students specifically doing NaNoWriMo is to keep your phone or a notebook with you at all times, because you never know when you'll have five extra minutes to write. I write between classes, on the bus, if I finish a test early. I even wrote at a party (yes, I wrote 1200 words on my phone in under an hour at a PARTY). Inspiration is going to strike everywhere and you need to keep it all in the same place. Also, having an outline is one of the most helpful things ever, just because you figure out exactly where you want to go, but can leave it broad enough that there are some creative decisions you can make based on what you're feeling at that instance. I did some character mapping for my main character which gave her a lot more personality for me to convey in the text.
Good luck to everyone out there, and don't lose hope! We can all do this!
Caramel
B L O G | I N S T A G R A M | T W I T T E R | E M A I L | G O O D R E A D S | G O O G L E +
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