Friday, December 2, 2016

Well, I'm back // NaNo Update No. 1


Good-day, old chaps.  I'm here to announce to you that I have officially made it through National Novel Writing Month!  (And yes, I know you're simply bursting with pride at my accomplishment, but please hold your applause.  I haven't told you the half of it yet.)
 
Now.  Are you ready to hear about my bold and daring exploit?  My courageous endurance in the face of such alarming odds?  My perseverance, my strength of character, my stick-to-itivness.  In other words, are you prepared to be blown away by my utter brilliance, and dazzled by my extreme novel writing abilities?

Well then, be amazed, folks!  For I, Miss March, wrote an earth-shattering 6,948 words in just 30 days! 

Aren't you absolutely astounded?  I have a feeling you must be.  Though maybe not by my brilliance, so much as by my utter lack of it.  Because, yes, folks.  6,000 words is piddling.  I knows it.  And I'm sure you're all wondering now how I could possibly have managed, after all this time, to come up 44,000 words short of the goal. 
 
Well, I'll tell you.  It's a trick I've learned, see?  I'm calling it the "Miss March Maneuver", but ordinary people usually just refer to it as "giving up."  There's nothing to it, really.  And yes, that's pretty much what I did.  Though not completely, mind you.  I continued to think about my story all month long, and wrote out a scene now and then whenever the mood struck me; but as for real, focused, determined work.  No.  I'm afraid that went out after the first week.

Here's the process in a nutshell:

Week 1:  Sits down at desk with loads of good intentions.  Starts writing.  Gets stuck.  Goes and cries.  Comes back.  Writes more.  Feels good about it.  The end.

Week 2:  After a weekend of feeling majorly stressed out, Miss March returns to work with the intention to relax...which translates into having no motivation whatsoever.  Sits down at the desk.  Thinks about writing.  Gets up, leaves the room, and watches Get Smart instead.

Week 3:  Manages to write a little more than last week (which isn't saying much).   Feels fairly content with the idea of failure, especially as there doesn't seem to be much chance of anything else at this point.

Week 4:  Watches a certain friend's word count go up at a steady and consistent pace, and suddenly decides it's time to put a little more effort into this thing.  So she does.  A very little effort.  Writes another whole scene.  Woohoo!

Week 5:  Plans to write two more scenes.  Doesn't succeed.  Cries.  Despairs of ever being a writer.  Has a sudden, unexplainable mood change and finishes out the month actually feeling semi-hopeful that one day she will write a story.  (Don't even ask.  Her moods are constantly changing.  I can't keep up with them.)

*****

So, yeah.   That's about the size of it.  The month certainly didn't turn out as originally planned.  I had, of course, intended at the beginning to be much more purposeful about reaching 50,000 words, but...well...that was before I knew what I was really getting into.  It's okay, though.  Despite my failure to come within shooting distance  of that elusive word count, I still consider this month to be a success.  Because hey!  I actually started a story!  And that, for me, is huge. 

And I love my story.  Not so much how it's turned out on paper so far, but the story in my head.  Doing NaNo certainly pushed me to think about it a lot, and a plot has now begun to take shape in my mind, which is super encouraging.  (You know, because it's always nice to have a bit of an idea where your story is headed...) 

I still very much want to finish this story someday, but as a dear friend so kindly pointed out to me: "Some stories just need more time to simmer. This may not have been the right time for every plot detail and character to come together in your story, and that's all right. That day will come soon, I'm sure."  Thank you, dear friend!

And thank you to ALL of you for being so kind and encouraging to me this past month!  You all are the best! :)
 

16 comments:

  1. You did awesome! 6k is no joke - it took me SIX YEARS to amass 9k of my story, so.

    NaNo was good though. It forces you to get determined. And, like you said, it gets you in the Writerly Mood. Now I can't STOP thinking about my story! ;)

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    1. Aww, thanks, Kate! Awfully kind of you to say so. :)

      Yes, it certainly does make you take your writing more seriously. I'm so glad you had a good experience with NaNo! You did awesome!

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    2. Thank you! Your support means the world to me!

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  2. This is hilarious. You are the BEST at shedding light on teary subjects, m'dear. AND YOUR WRITING IRONY STYLE IS JUST... I love it. And congratulations anyway. You participated and tried and that's what counts! ;-)

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    1. Haha. THANK YOU, NAOMI! Your comments are the best! :D

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  3. Hey, if Nano Wrimo pushed you to write and think about your story more than you normally would have, I'd call that a success! I actually signed up for NanoWrimo a few years ago, and never used it 'cause yaknow, school. :P

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    1. Thank you, Abby!! :) Oh, yes. School. It does tend to get in the way sometimes, doesn't it. ;)

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  4. Well GOOD FOR YOU!!!! You did amazingly!!! ;) Like I said before, I could never do this, not even attempt it so GOOD FOR YOU FOR TRYING!!!! And congrats on 6,000 words, which, honestly, is not bad. It's NOT. So there. :)
    And seriously, your writing talent is something I hope to aspire to...This post was amusing and witty despite the underlying tragic theme. :) You're the best.

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    1. Aww, Rae. Thank you SO much. Your comment made me very happy! YOU'RE the best! :D

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  5. First off—CONGRATULATIONS! Why would I congratulate you, you ask? Because you were brave and tried something new. And I'm still really proud of you for that. :D

    Okay...I gotta admit, this post was funny. "Sits down at the desk. Thinks about writing. Gets up, leaves the room, and watches Get Smart instead." Hahahaha.

    Moods are horrendous, fickle things. Don't listen to them. And it's not just you. My mom complains about my moods, too. I tend to swing between really happy and really sad quite easily sometimes. :P

    YES! Exactly! You started a story and it's still alive. Writing is a process, and don't ever be boxed in by other people's successes or even their failures. It took me a year and half to write AMP, and yet I WAS able to write about half of an entire novel in 30 days. That, if anything, shows that each person is different and even the process for each BOOK is different. So don't worry. I'm quite certain that one day, you WILL have a completed novel. :D

    Eek, you have a plot coming together?! Told you you've got this. ;) *hugs* I'm SO happy for you!!

    Heeheeheehee. ;) You're quite welcome, my dear.

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    1. Awww. Thank you so much, Natalie. :D

      Haha! Yay! I meant it to be. ;)

      They are indeed. Fickle, fickle, fickle. Oh, me, too. And my mom doesn't always appreciate it either. Heehee. :P

      "You started a story and it's still alive." Hey, you know? You're right. It is still alive, and much more than any other story I've ever attempted to write, which is really cool, actually. :) Wow, yes. That's so true. Your two books have definitely been a different process from each other, haven't they? That's a good thing to remember. Some stories come together really fast and others just need a longer time to simmer.

      Aw, thank you! *returns hugs*

      :D

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    2. YES, indeed! It took Tolkien 12 years to write LOTR! (no, I didn't just google that. :P) So if it takes you a year (or even two or more!) to write your story, don't feel bad. Many other authors have taken much longer.

      Ps. I think our moms might get along well. ;)

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    3. You're so right. In the end it really doesn't matter how long it took you to write your story, just so long as you wrote it. Thanks for the reminder. :)

      P.S. Haha. I bet you they would. ;)

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  6. Oh dear, this was rather funny, but I AM sorry about it all. ;) You can at least write up about a touchy subject with a good attitude! It made me giggle...

    You did 6,000 words of your story! I mean, you might be moaning about how you ONLY wrote 6,000 words but guess what?! YOU WROTE 6,000 WORDS. You're now 6,000 words (and probably 6,000 thoughts, am I right?) into your story, which you didn't have before. I write terribly slow too, so 6,000 words honestly does sound like quite a lot to me. ;)

    ~Miss Meg

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    1. Oh, it's alright. Really. It was frustrating at the time, but I feel a lot better about it now. (Haha. Thanks. It helps to laugh about it.)

      Aww. Thank you, Miss Meg. Yes, even though it was WAY short of the goal, 6,000 words is still worth celebrating. Especially for me. Glad you can relate to the whole "slow writing" thing. :)

      ~Miss March

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