NaNoWriMo Update #1

Hello potential NaNo buds! That time of the year has finally come! No, not Halloween or Christmas. I'm talking about the magical month of NaNoWriMo! In case you don't know what that is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and it's pretty awesome. Basically it's a challenge to give you that extra push in order to start writing that novel of yours every day for an entire month with a goal of 50,000 words or more or less. Numbers don't count! As long as you're writing, you've already won. I've been a participant twice now (this being my second time) and I seriously love doing it. So without making this intro too long, here's my first update for day one of NaNoWriMo!

Add Me As A Writing Buddy! Let's Cheer Each Other On!

So this month, I actually had no idea what I even wanted to write. I had a few ideas but none of them were really concrete decisions. I'm still trying to wrap up another story I'm currently writing so I wasn't really sure if I'd even have time for NaNo this month. Then, one night I was wide awake and tossing and turning when an idea hit me and in the morning, I was already designing a cover art for my new story. I meditated on my story idea and when the day finally came on Halloween, the day before the beauteous start of NaNoWriMo, I decided that I would take my idea and turn it into something real. So even if you're just finding out about this, or you're still not sure what you want to write, it's never too late to join. Whether you start today or next week, as long as you're writing what you want, then that's good enough for everybody.

Seriously though, if you didn't know about NaNo, just click the link above to get more info on it and sign up to start writing your novel. It's so much fun and I promise you'll love it. Well, you'll be satisfied once the month wraps up.

Now I'm not saying it's all sunshine and roses. My first year doing NaNo was fun at first but then I started getting a little stressed out. I started falling behind a little on my word count and a few times I had no idea how to continue my story. I'm the type of writer that goes in without a solid layout of whatever story I'm writing. I'll have a few things mapped out in my head and what I want the story to end up being but overall, I'm pretty much winging it in between. I envy those who pretty much have a script for their stories. TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!! 

Even though it's only my second time doing NaNo, I've learned quite a lot from my first time. I learned how to discipline myself when it comes to writing regularly. Whether I write ten thousand words one day or a hundred, they get me that much closer to completing my story. Now if I'm being truthful, I pretty much banged my head on the wall whenever I didn't write anything one day. I felt like a complete failure and like I just failed my entire family and cried all day. But that's just me. I learned that as long as I write SOMETHING, then it still counts.

Another thing I learned is that I need quite a lot of coffee and music to keep me going and a little time away from the computer also helps get the juices flowing. If you're having trouble figuring out where to go from the first sentence, pop on your favorite CD or get a cup of joe or tea or Kool-Aid to freshen yourself up. Maybe even grab your favorite snack or take a walk to the store to get those things. I get inspired by the things around me. I get inspired by movies, t.v, music, the weather, other books or even dirt. Yes, that last one happened once. Anyway, the point is: there's inspiration EVERYWHERE! Just take a look around and see what you find.

And then you have the writer's block. You know, when you want to write so badly and yet nothing comes to you and you just stare at your screen waiting for something magical to happen and yet nothing does and you feel like this:  ➡➡➡

You're not alone. We feel the pain just like you do sometimes. That's when it's time to step away from the keys or put down the pen and go do something other than write. I know you're probably thinking, "Isn't the whole point TO WRITE?" Well, yes. But I found that hanging out with my friends or family or just watching Netflix helped inspire me a little and pushed me out of the writer's block. Do something that gets you out of the house if you can. The world can be very interesting and you might experience something that gets the gears going again.

I'm no NaNoWriMo veteran and I'm still learning how to fully get through it but the bottom line is just to write that story of yours and don't give up until it's finished! Don't worry about whether it's at it's best, you can edit stuff later. Just let your heart tell you what to write and don't let that little critical voice in your head get to you. It's annoying anyway so why listen to it when you're writing?

So as of this first update, I'm currently at a little over 2,000 words and I plan on writing more later today. I'm super stoked about the story line I decided to go with and I can't wait to post it to Wattpad for the world to read. Hopefully I'll be able to complete NaNoWriMo again this year and have another story that I'm proud of. So what's your piece of advice for writing? Leave a comment down below because I think the writers of the world would love to know! Including me. Write on bookworms! See you at 50,000 words!