By Charlotte Fraser
It’s week two of NaNoWriMo and emotions are running high and the wrimo’s themselves are running on mostly nothing but caffeine. By now, the participants should be firing through their novels at a word count of 21,666. And guess what? I am completely on track! In actual fact, I am over the word count coming in with a massive 32,089, approximately a week ahead of where I should be at.
There are quite a few things that have helped me through the dreaded week 2 of NaNo, and one of them (as previously mentioned in week 1’s diary) was indeed more and more Wordsprints run by amazing people all over the world who are also participating in the challenge. In really cannot stress enough how these Wordsprints have helped me just WRITE and get over my inner editor which is always poking me in the ribs, asking to be released.
It’s week two of NaNoWriMo and emotions are running high and the wrimo’s themselves are running on mostly nothing but caffeine. By now, the participants should be firing through their novels at a word count of 21,666. And guess what? I am completely on track! In actual fact, I am over the word count coming in with a massive 32,089, approximately a week ahead of where I should be at.
There are quite a few things that have helped me through the dreaded week 2 of NaNo, and one of them (as previously mentioned in week 1’s diary) was indeed more and more Wordsprints run by amazing people all over the world who are also participating in the challenge. In really cannot stress enough how these Wordsprints have helped me just WRITE and get over my inner editor which is always poking me in the ribs, asking to be released.
People often wonder how someone could possibly find the time to write so much. And the answer is never simple. If you have a demanding social life or job, or maybe even family life, it can be hard to find spare time to just sit around and be lazy for a while, never mind writing a novel. My conclusion is that if you really want something, you should go for it no matter what the cost. If you feel like being creative, it isn’t a bad thing. Procrastination is the mortal enemy of the creative process and that theory has been proved time and time again but the trick to writing a novel in a month is to just sit down and focus, cut things out you don’t really NEED to do, and just have a little ME time.
Wrimos around week two start to ask the question “But is Me-Time and focus really worth it?” They also start to doubt themselves a lot and they doubt their writing skills and abilities to do great things. I have experienced this first hand, and from a person who is currently experiencing NaNoWriMo for the first time I can tell you for certain that you will ask say things like “I’m feeling really run down. I just have no inspiration.” The best way to find inspiration is to start to take your surroundings in. For example, say you are on a train and you're sitting staring into space (come on, we’ve all been there) and your eyes fall on a specific person. Stop and think for a moment. What is this person’s name? What distinguishing features do they have? What is their personality like? Are they hard working or lazy? Could THEY write a novel in a month? People-watching in my opinion is an excellent way to get inspiration when you really are running low on it. Especially if you are looking for ideas for a new character. It may sound creepy (because you are initially just staring at the person and making stuff up), but for novel-writing, it totally works!
Another thing inspiration-hungry Wrimos tend to do during week 2 is take to the NaNoWriMo Forums, I which they will find advice on everything you could possibly need to write a novel in a month. In the forums, the competitors like to share sob stories about how difficult their task is and help other people out when they so desperately need it. I went onto one of the forums this week during a dilemma I was having involving a rather difficult character of mine who was being a little bit stubborn to say the least and whilst I was there I browsed through the threads, and other writers were having similar problems. In the end, the Forums really managed to help me out this week.
Wrimos around week two start to ask the question “But is Me-Time and focus really worth it?” They also start to doubt themselves a lot and they doubt their writing skills and abilities to do great things. I have experienced this first hand, and from a person who is currently experiencing NaNoWriMo for the first time I can tell you for certain that you will ask say things like “I’m feeling really run down. I just have no inspiration.” The best way to find inspiration is to start to take your surroundings in. For example, say you are on a train and you're sitting staring into space (come on, we’ve all been there) and your eyes fall on a specific person. Stop and think for a moment. What is this person’s name? What distinguishing features do they have? What is their personality like? Are they hard working or lazy? Could THEY write a novel in a month? People-watching in my opinion is an excellent way to get inspiration when you really are running low on it. Especially if you are looking for ideas for a new character. It may sound creepy (because you are initially just staring at the person and making stuff up), but for novel-writing, it totally works!
Another thing inspiration-hungry Wrimos tend to do during week 2 is take to the NaNoWriMo Forums, I which they will find advice on everything you could possibly need to write a novel in a month. In the forums, the competitors like to share sob stories about how difficult their task is and help other people out when they so desperately need it. I went onto one of the forums this week during a dilemma I was having involving a rather difficult character of mine who was being a little bit stubborn to say the least and whilst I was there I browsed through the threads, and other writers were having similar problems. In the end, the Forums really managed to help me out this week.
At the moment I hit 32K on my novel, I was overjoyed. This year, being my first official year doing NaNo, I wasn’t expecting to actually stay on track at all. Especially since I personally have college work to be tending to, and also writing for I’m With Geek on a regular basis. But that said, In spite of it all, I’m surprised that I’m keeping up with everything so well. I haven’t fallen behind or been left in the dust with anything and we are well into week 2 now.
Whilst on the subject of increasing word counts, when on Twitter (oh, how I love Twitter…) the other day I came across a Wrimo who not only had completed NaNoWriMo, but she had completed it in TWELVE DAYS. This news literally blew me away at how dedicated some of the NaNoWriMo community is and I honestly take my hat off to her. What an excellent achievement to write not 50K, but 51K words in that small amount of time, although I know for a fact that I could never do that myself.
So guys, that concludes this week’s Diary of a Wrimo. Be sure to come back next week for more tips and tales of my NaNoWriMo experience! If you would like to send love and encouragement, or if you want to let me know how you’re doing if you are participating this year or if there are any hints and tips or questions you would like me to answer, feel free to tweet me at “@TheStoryPhoenix”.
If you would like to attempt NaNoWriMo yourself and maybe write a novel in 12 days like that super-speedy wrimo mentioned above, it is never too late (www.nanowrimo.org).
The rough draft of my first novel and NaNoWriMo project, titled “ERROR” can be read on Wattpad (http://www.wattpad.com/story/5781560-error).
Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you guys next week!
Whilst on the subject of increasing word counts, when on Twitter (oh, how I love Twitter…) the other day I came across a Wrimo who not only had completed NaNoWriMo, but she had completed it in TWELVE DAYS. This news literally blew me away at how dedicated some of the NaNoWriMo community is and I honestly take my hat off to her. What an excellent achievement to write not 50K, but 51K words in that small amount of time, although I know for a fact that I could never do that myself.
So guys, that concludes this week’s Diary of a Wrimo. Be sure to come back next week for more tips and tales of my NaNoWriMo experience! If you would like to send love and encouragement, or if you want to let me know how you’re doing if you are participating this year or if there are any hints and tips or questions you would like me to answer, feel free to tweet me at “@TheStoryPhoenix”.
If you would like to attempt NaNoWriMo yourself and maybe write a novel in 12 days like that super-speedy wrimo mentioned above, it is never too late (www.nanowrimo.org).
The rough draft of my first novel and NaNoWriMo project, titled “ERROR” can be read on Wattpad (http://www.wattpad.com/story/5781560-error).
Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you guys next week!