NaNoWriMo 2017 | Writing Shenanigans

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Hello, everyone! It's your favorite inconsistent blogger with another (inconsistent) post! This time it's all about NaNoWriMo. What's NaNoWriMo, you ask? Well, you fool, it's an event that takes place every year on November in which a bunch of writers decide to push their limits and write a novel in a month! Ha, while yes, this sounds insane and it kind of is*.

So, this year as I have been for the past six years I've decided to subject myself to this insanity and will be attempting to write 50,000 words** in a month while navigating school and life and the such. Am I brave or stupid, you can decide for yourself. So, I want to talk about what keeps me going and gives me inspiration and how I approach NaNo.

*If this is your kind of insane you can go and register for the madness here! Come join us, we're over caffeinated and slightly crazy
**Although, this is a project I've sort of already started and some of these words have already been written, but shhh.


What Keeps Me Going

The thought of all the cuteness to come. I mean, man, my NaNo project is a contemporary about a girl trying to find what in the heck she wants to do with her life post-university* and there's friendship and falling in love and it all promises to be very cute.

That's not all that fuels me, but also the fact that I hate losing and that I am motivated just by the thought of winning. So, on days when it all feels like too much the thought of winning just puts me right back on track. I find that telling everyone you know about your insanity also is a driver because come December they'll ask what about your novel and you'll have to tell them you've brought dishonor on your cow.



*this work is only slightly biographic and as a matter of fact this is where the similarities end.

What Gives Me Inspiration

As I mentioned, there's tons of cuteness in my story and also tons of internal conflict and while that's all fine and good I'm really all about the cuteness. So, a big source of inspiration for me is Pinterest. I have boards for every single relevant character in this story. It's also great for procrastination in the sake of inspiration, if you get what I mean. 

Can you feel the cuteness? I mean, there's a dog and someone's a Slytherin and the other person likes books and says darlin'

Another unexpected source of inspiration for me is k-dramas. Now, hear me out. I have little to no cuteness going on in my life. I've got the existential dread, no idea where my life is going thing down to a T, but I have none of the cuteness in my life. So, when I need a good (sometimes cringe-worthy) ole' fashioned cute and butterfly inducing feelings I turn to k-dramas. It's also great for procrastination. WAIT! I think I'm detecting a theme here. Oops. Well, anyway, they help greatly and the drama cycle that just started is so good, it's as if the writing gods have willed it so. 

I also draw inspiration from my day to day. It sounds boring, but it's true. The whole idea for this story came to me when I was at a bridal shower for a friend* and I started thinking what if... Obviously, the story has evolved and the characters have evolved in my head since the original idea came to me in like, February or April of this year, but an event in my daily life was the spark. Also, sometimes I have great conversations and to not draw inspiration from them would be a disservice to my wit. 

*I was only twenty-one at the time and WAY TOO YOUNG TO HAVE SUCH ADULT FRIENDS OMG

My Approach

I approach NaNo with wariness and armed with snacks. Also, I have a vague outline about the events that should happen and just adventure it from there. Because, where's the fun in a perfectly mapped novel, right? Also, I just like to give my characters room to do whatever the heck they like because forcing them into stuff has never worked for me and they're stubborn people. 

So, listen to your characters would be my first tip. You might think it's your story, but really it's theirs and they give no flying cucumbers about what you want. So, I listen to my characters and hope for the best. That being said, there are moments when I'm outlining that they just spring to life and I have to outline whole conversations. It's quite a magical thing.

I'm outlining on paper, mainly because it allows me to outline during class when I'm bored and because there's just something about pen to paper that I love way more than I love about fingers to keys. BUT, I am writing the actual novel itself on a word processor. I use Scrivener usually, but I'm thinking of maybe taking it old school this year and write on Word (the last time I actually finished a project was in Word, so maybe it'll give me some divine inspiration or something). I'm still thinking about that.

Since I have uni and November is going to be hectic (I'm looking at you Art History paper and Final English Project) and just very busy, I'm going to try and write as much as I can every day. That means I'll try to soar above the 1,667 daily goal and push it as much as I can every day. Will it work? Maybe. Will it maybe kill me? Yes. Is it worth it? I'd say yes.

So, armed with my tools and enthusiasm I'll embark on this crazy crazy journey this November.


Are you participating in NaNo this year? If so, what's your novel about? How are you doing it because I could use all the tips.

OMG I'M ALIVE! WHAT A SHOCK, I KNOW | September 2017

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Hello, friends. I'm alive. It's a shock, I know. You also probably missed me dearly. Do not despair, here I am. Beautiful as ever and ready to tell you all about my life and the wonderful books in it.

So, September was a month in which I didn't read as much as I would have liked to. Where's the surprise there, tho? It was also a month of getting back into the routine of university. IT IS MY LAST SEMESTER FOLKS AND I'M FREAKING THE FREAK OUT! What do you mean I have to BE AN ADULT AND GET AN ACTUAL JOB AND DO ADULT THINGS???? I REFUSE! However, let's dive into the juicy stuff.

Books read

This September I read a lot of classics and I blame school because otherwise I would never. Or at least not for another ten years or so.











On the blog

HA! As f I had posted anything on the blog this month. What a joke. I'm sorry.

In the life

Like I said, my dudes, I have been busy with school because OMG MY LAST SEMESTER OF UNI IS HERE AND I'M HYPERVENTILATING. Also, I've just been hanging out with my friends a bunch. September was party month. I kid you not, every single weekend I had something going on which is weird because I'm pro stay at your home and not go out. 

I watched IT, which was cool and super funny and not scary at all. I aspire to either a) have a child that's just like Richie or b) make such great jokes. In the kdrama department I'm currently obsessed with Temperature of Love and Age of Youth 2, ooh and While You Were Sleeping promises to be amazing. So, I'm excited for that.

 I also finished a journal, which is always a momentous occasion. I really don't have any excuses to not posting other than life got distracting and I felt like focusing on some other things. That and the fact that I didn't read a single YA book this month, which like WTH me??? just put me off blogging. I promise to be better.