For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a time when writers and authors all over the world spend time writing as much as they can. Typically, people participating in NaNoWriMo (or Nano for short) finish the first rough draft of a novel during the month of November. It’s a time to be massively productive if you’re one of those writers who doesn’t write very much.
I took part in Nano with a group of writing friends. We laxed the rules a little bit and instead of everyone trying to write a rough draft, we all set our own goals.
Last year, I didn’t write a word during Nano. I was resting after a grueling 10 month period of writing. But this year, I told myself, I was going big. I was going to get lots done. I was going to set personal records. I was going to finish the rough draft of my novella in a month.
Great idea, right?
Heh.
I’ve had trouble with this story before. It was the book I dropped in July when I was knocked over with the worst bout of burnout I’ve ever had. It is a very vulnerable book and this summer I don’t think I was in a place emotionally to write about such a deep theme. But I was ready this November. I was gonna hit it. I was gonna get it. Prepare for the worst, o computer memory, for I am going to overrun you with letters and WORDS!!
My November didn’t go as expected. I didn’t meet my goal. I wrote 12,000 words during the first two weeks, then crashed and didn’t look at my story for another fortnight. With only a few days of Nano left, I read over it, hoping for a lightning bolt of inspiration.
Instead, I was devastated by how devoid of feeling it was. This story that was supposed to be so rich in emotional beauty and pain. It was nothing like it was supposed to be. I stopped reading and started wondering how under the canopy I was supposed to make the words and story feel the way I wanted them to.
I discussed it with my writing friends. How do you empty yourself into your writing? I received numerous amazing suggestions. And finally, I had a beautiful breakthrough last night, just 26 hours before the end of Nano.
First, I created a separate document and wrote about how the emotions feel for me personally. Not for the protagonist, not for someone else, but me. I wrote and wrote. I shed a few tears. In the end, there was one big paragraph that lasted a page and a half. The feelings I’d written about still churning in my heart, I returned to the manuscript and started changing the way my character felt about things to more accurately match my own emotions.
And it worked! I’m pleased with what I did (something unusual for writers). I’m excited to keep working on this, even though after tonight it will no longer officially be Nano.
So. While I didn’t do what I set out to do this November, I think I did something better. I found the thread of emotion that will make my whole story worthwhile. It’s hard and will keep being hard. But that doesn’t mean it’s not doable.
Aaah, you had a typewriter moment!!
YES!! It was awesome. 😍
Awesome story, Ella Em!
Thanks, sis!
I did NaNoWriMo this year too!! I actually learnt a lot this year as well 🙂 I am so happy for you to hear you pulled through. Well done!
Thank you, and congratulations!
Oh Ella Em, I loved this! Thanks for sharing. <3
Thank you!! 🤗
Hello Ella Em! This was very inspiring! Great post!
Love, Juliana
I’m glad! Thank you, Juliana! ❣️