If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's an organization or group of a bunch of writers from around the world who make a promise to try and write 50,000 words in the month of November. I was one of those people that hoped would accomplish this goal. Well...
I put way too much faith in myself. See what I did there?
For the first couple of days, I was meeting the required word count per day and sometimes I surpassed it. I love the idea behind NaNoWriMo, I love that it brings people together to do one thing and that one thing is write. I went into this with an open mind, and was anxious to start. However, I do feel like I set up unrealistic expectations for myself.
Writing a book is hard. I have known this, as I have been working on a different story for quite some time. I think that, that on top of NaNoWriMo put so much pressure on myself. I was living this fantasy in my head, picturing myself winning NaNoWriMo. I believe one of the major rules of NaNo is to not think about what you're writing. I should've known that this wasn't going to work out, especially knowing myself.
When I come up with a story idea, it's basically just a film in my head. I'm a planner, and I want to stick to that plan. I'm the kind of person who must thoroughly think out each and every single word that I am going to write out. When I don't do this, everything just gets chaotic and I feel like I don't have control over what is happening. Yeah I know, that probably sounds like it doesn't make sense considering I have complete control over what's happening.
For a couple of years, writing has been a hobby of mine a hobby that I have been very, very passionate about. I do it for myself, and me alone. I really don't like falling behind, or having something that's going to make me do something. I have never been a fan of people telling me what to do, so imagine what it's like to have that haunting word goal in your mind as you're writing. I was never writing to write, I was writing so I could win something. 1,667 words for me is easy, I will admit that. I do consider myself a fast typer. Yet, this felt like I had to write one million words a day. Thinking about it now, it's weird because I have written 5,000+ words before without realizing it.
If you're reading this, you're probably a book lover. You know when you have to read a book for school but you're completely dreading it even though you love reading? This is what NaNoWriMo felt like for me. It just felt like another chore I had to do or another assignment I had to finish in order to receive a good mark.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea of NaNoWriMo and will definitely participate in years to come! I'll probably try harder and not fall into the stress of it all. I honestly just feel like I put to much weight on myself, and it just fell on me too quickly. I also have to learn that it's okay to not love the words you're going to write.
Did you participate in NaNoWriMo?
Writing a book is hard. I have known this, as I have been working on a different story for quite some time. I think that, that on top of NaNoWriMo put so much pressure on myself. I was living this fantasy in my head, picturing myself winning NaNoWriMo. I believe one of the major rules of NaNo is to not think about what you're writing. I should've known that this wasn't going to work out, especially knowing myself.
When I come up with a story idea, it's basically just a film in my head. I'm a planner, and I want to stick to that plan. I'm the kind of person who must thoroughly think out each and every single word that I am going to write out. When I don't do this, everything just gets chaotic and I feel like I don't have control over what is happening. Yeah I know, that probably sounds like it doesn't make sense considering I have complete control over what's happening.
For a couple of years, writing has been a hobby of mine a hobby that I have been very, very passionate about. I do it for myself, and me alone. I really don't like falling behind, or having something that's going to make me do something. I have never been a fan of people telling me what to do, so imagine what it's like to have that haunting word goal in your mind as you're writing. I was never writing to write, I was writing so I could win something. 1,667 words for me is easy, I will admit that. I do consider myself a fast typer. Yet, this felt like I had to write one million words a day. Thinking about it now, it's weird because I have written 5,000+ words before without realizing it.
If you're reading this, you're probably a book lover. You know when you have to read a book for school but you're completely dreading it even though you love reading? This is what NaNoWriMo felt like for me. It just felt like another chore I had to do or another assignment I had to finish in order to receive a good mark.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea of NaNoWriMo and will definitely participate in years to come! I'll probably try harder and not fall into the stress of it all. I honestly just feel like I put to much weight on myself, and it just fell on me too quickly. I also have to learn that it's okay to not love the words you're going to write.
Did you participate in NaNoWriMo?
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