Tuesday

NaNoWrimo Recap #1 - Tips, Goals, and Problems

Hello everyone! I really should have done this post on Sunday but I sort of forgot..oops. Anyway, the first week of NaNoWrimo is over and I survived and kept up my wordcount. I've heard the second week is worse (I've already been experiencing that, I wrote only 900 words yesterday :( )

Today, I'm going to be recapping my NaNo experience for the first week! I'll also be talking about some goals I have, problems I've encountered and some general tips I have for you all! Let's get into it :)



How am I doing so far?

So far so good! My goal per day is 2,000 words and I did that for almost everyday except for Friday when I only did 1,300 (grr..) 

My novel is coming along, in that first week it was slow and I found myself questioning what I was writing, a lot. I also found myself comparing myself to other writer's speeds. People were at 40,000 words when I was celebrating because I'd reached 10,000 words. 

I do love my characters and am definitely attached to them. I haven't decided whether I'm going to kill any of them off. Yet. 

I INCLUDED A DRAGON. That was like my favorite part to write, I'm very descriptive when it comes to characters and especially DRAGONS. She's amazing, and she can talk.




What are some problems that I've come across?

Questioning myself. I would stop and edit every 5 minutes because I hated the sentence I'd just written or I despised that character's name. It was horrible and I would barely get 200 words in 15 minutes. 

Again, comparing myself to other writers. I read snippets of what other people had written and I was blown away. I looked back at my novel and it made me sad because I thought I wasn't good enough for this, which really lowered my spirits. 

Not pushing myself hard enough or pushing myself too hard. Like I said, one day I only managed to spew out 1,300 words and that's because I was being too easy on myself. During NaNo, and really any time during life, you have to push yourself, otherwise you're not going to get anywhere. But then the next day, I pushed myself too hard. I was pooped by the end and my brain was fried. And, what I had just written was horrible. So I definitely learned from that. 



What are my goals for this week of NaNo?

The obvious is to write 2,000 words per day (or more ;) ) and hit 28,000 words by the end of the week. Then I'll be halfway, whoop whoop! 

Also to participate in every Virtual Write In. If you don't know what those are, they're livestreams that NaNo hosts with prompts and word sprints to help you boost your word count! They're an hour long, sometimes they go a bit over. I find them super helpful and I wrote 3,000 words in the last one! I think the next one is tomorrow so I'm definitely going to do that!

What are some tips that I have for my fellow Wrimos?

1) Block the inner editor by doing the following. Look down at your keyboard while typing, make your font size super small, take off your backspace key. 

2) Keep a daily goal. It may be good to write 4k one day and just 2k another but it's also good, and better, to have a goal. Again, with the pushing yourself day, you can push yourself to get that goal. But if you're feeling inspired, you can just ignore that and write write write!

3) Don't write less than your goal and then think you can make up for it the next day. I feel so hypocritical because I did this, yesterday. Just really push yourself to hit that 1k, or 5k, or whatever. It's really good and does help to build discipline. Don't be lazy, just do it! *insert Shia LaBeouf gif here*


4) Don't feel bad if you don't hit 50k. Especially if you're a first timer. Look at it this way, you probably have a lot going on, and it's okay! It's also okay if you're a slow writer, some people are just slower than others! Make a new goal, maybe 30k or 40k, something you know you can reach. Aim for 50k next year, train yourself to write faster! Me on the other hand, I'm a fast writer and an anti-social person so I have 0 excuses. 


I hope you guys enjoyed that! In my poll, a lot of you voted for writing tips so I'll definitely post more of them! 

For all my fellow Wrimos, keep up the work and don't get discouraged! I'm always here if you need a helper or a writing buddy :)

What are your best writing tips? Would you like to see more writing stuff on the blog? 

Thanks for reading,
Noor

p.s- vote in my poll! It will really help me out and you guys will get to see more of what you want :)

p.p.s- should I do a room tour? I just cleaned my room and thought it would be fun :)

16 comments:

  1. I really like Diys
    Gypsy
    sierra.teanook.ca

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    1. Thanks for the advice! I do have some planned :)

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  3. This post is so inspiring. Now I want to go write. :) I would love a room tour!

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    1. Thank you Abigail! I get inspired by these kinds of posts too :P

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  4. Awesome tips! I'm not doing NaNo this time, but I'm definitely thinking about doing it next time (whenever that is).
    I would love to see a room tour!

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    1. Thanks Ellie! I think there's Camp NaNo in April and July, I hope you join that because you're a fantastic writer :)

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  5. once you're finished, can you put a small part of the story on the blog?

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    1. Yes of course! I'm planning to put the first few chapters up in December after they've been edited and if people like it, I'll post more!

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  6. Hey Noor,

    I wish you the best of luck with your story...Just remember to keep reading and stuff, don't worry about NaNo too much :)

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    1. Thank you so much dear Rukiya, I'm trying to! I don't really let NaNo stress me out, I try to think of it as something fun :)

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  7. I'm glad that Nano is going well for you! What is your story about? I'm not doing Nano this year, as I don't have enough time to write a novel in 30 days, but I am planning out a novel that I want to write soon :-)

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    1. Thank you Jollygirl! My novel is about a faeryie, a vampire, a werewolf, and a human who have been isolated from their species and now have to figure out how to work together to return home and fight a force called Traelin. This blurb is horrible, I'm sorry xD

      I can't wait to hear more about that novel on your blog! Do share ;)

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  8. Thank you shares this article. I found this article more information of writing. You can try this outsourced typing

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