When I first wrote about this I was a day late in adding
info about this challenge for the month and now I am putting it a day before
the end as I wanted to make sure I put this on before I forget.
I hope that everyone had a wonderfully great 2015 NaNoWriMo
and that you all reached your 50,000 Word count by the months end, tomorrow! If
you didn’t reach the goal don’t just stop, keep writing even if the months
over, finish the novel. I do hope that your novel became everything you hoped
it would become and that you enjoyed this challenge.
Though I didn’t do it this year I am happy to say that I did
finish in November three Poems, “Beautiful Nightmare”, “Dream Lovers”, and
“Violet Fields” and two Short Stories, “The Girl with the Red War Paint” and
“Everly After”. I am at present about to
start two new Short Stories, “Launch: 24 Hours” and “Scarlet Archer”. I also
edited and wrote on another novel as well during November.
So though I didn’t do a 50,000 Word Novel I did have a very
good writing month in general!
So I hope that all that did NaNoWriMo will
continue to write come December and that everything you write turns out as good
as or better than you expected. If you care to you can share moments, thoughts,
experiences from this 2015 NaNoWriMo challenge in the comment section of this
post!
Happy Writing!
That's awesome you got so much done in one month! I could barely finish my novel by the end and that whole last day in November left me drained. I finished NaNoWriMo at 50,000 - somehow. It was a lot of hard work and struggle and the whole story changed a lot from the way I'd imagined it, but that's not a bad thing. Anyway, I'm just so glad it's over. As for my novel, I haven't even looked at it since than. I think I'll do the whole revision/editing thing that comes along in January.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that doing NaNoWriMo was good for me, something to keep me pushing along instead of just giving up on a story with the idea of coming back to it later and never doing so. That's why I've got tons of unfinished or never started stories, but I think for this story I was trying to turn it into a novel when it was more of a novella. I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of red marks and comments when I get around to revising it.
But besides that, I don't think that writing 1,666 words a day really works for me. I think I do better with a lower word count, like 750 words a day, but on the other hand if I hadn't pushed myself and done NaNo, I wouldn't have the story or the ideas that came when I was struggling to figure out where the plot goes next, the motivations of the characters, or all the other details. I'm glad I finally managed to hang in there for the end and I definitely want to do it again next year.
One thing I found annoying while doing NaNo, however, was how I'd get ideas that entire month for different stories but I couldn't really concentrate on any of them because I was working on my novel. It's annoying because my concentration is divided and I feel like if I don't stick to the new ideas than they'll quickly fade away, even though I write them down in my notebook so I don't forget. There are the times when I wish I didn't have to sleep (even though I love my sleep, and the dreams that come along with them!)
ReplyDeleteThat’s Wonderful! I am glad to hear you finished your 50,000 Word Novel for NaNoWriMo! I’ve experienced a draining like that when I’ve pulled near all nighters when I’m on a roll and don’t want to stop until I’ve gotten what I want to have written out on the page. It’s exhausting for sure and so I understand a little of how you felt.
DeleteThe hard work, struggle and changing of details will be worth it when you go back to edit and look at your wonderful story. Sure there will be many changes to be made but you will be proud, already are I suppose. Finishing any form of writing whether it is a Poem, Short Story, Novella, Novel, or Essays is a major accomplishment.
It does sound like NaNoWriMo has been good for you! I have done the same. If I don’t push forward with a novel as I’m writing or take long breaks I fear I’ll not go back and finish writing. So now I try and stay as connected to my stories from day one.
I hate to hear about writers with unfinished or never started stories, I feel bad for them! I have a writer friend named Kendra and because of now being a single parent working two jobs she doesn’t write very much. She has great story ideas and I feel I wish she could finish her stories as I’m convinced she could get published and do well.
DeleteI don’t know if I’ve put this in a comment or post on my blog before but I watched a documentary about a famous author once who had it pretty bad, she was in an abusive relationship she got out of for the sake of her child and then was on her countries version of welfare and had a hard time finding a job. She spent her time in between caring for her child and finally being able to find employment. In her spare time on the commute on the train to work she wrote and at night when her child was asleep she wrote and when her stories became insanely popular she became one of her countries richest women. So I look at her example as I haven’t had half the bad stuff she had happen and so I spend some of my free time writing and never give up on a story. But I understand others lives and stuff might not allow them to be able to write as much but I still hope they do finish and I hope you finish some of your unfinished stories soon as well!
Same thing happened with me in the above story mentioned in my post “Everly After” I was trying to make it into a Short Story for a Writing Contest next year and so I trying to keep it under 8,000 Words. But as I was finishing I wanted to give so much more to that tale. I wanted to add rich details about the clothes, architecture, the Kingdoms background, the interaction between characters, ect. I wanted more than 8,000 Words would allow. So I decided to add more and use one of my other Short Stories for the Writers Contest. So this story is being extended but will be deemed a Short Story still as anything under 20,000 Words to me is a Short Story and I’m sure it won’t exceed 20,000 Words. It’s at 10,336 Words right now and probably won’t go past 15,000-17,000 Words. So the same as you trying to turn more of a Novella story into a Novel to reach your word count I was trying to turn a Long Short Story on the brink of Novella into a Short Story.
I am opposite. I write at least 4 days a week from 8:30 / 9:00 PM to 12 AM or later and when I write I will write down the word count before and after. I tend to write 1,500 to 1,800 Words a night depending. I’m a longer work count writer and love it that way.
I’m glad you hung in there and did NaNoWriMo! I am glad even though it was definitely a challenge that you did it! I hope that next years NaNoWriMo is good for you as well! Maybe I will even do it next year!
I know same thing happened to me I was concentrating on “Everly After” and an idea came to me. I had to write it down lest I forget it but my thoughts were divided between stories. This new story just popped into my head and wouldn’t leave until I thought it through fully. It will be a Prequel to my longest Mega Novel, Mega Novels to me are anything over 120,000 Words and my longest is nearly 150,000 Words. The Prequel came and I hadn’t even intended to have a Prequel or Sequel.
DeleteIt’s like I have to concentrate on all concepts of a new story and write down details but the story I’m writing will often suffer. I have 35 Story Ideas written down. I have too many ideas and not enough time, lol!
Lol, I wish the same sometimes. If I could cut out sleep I could write so much more. There was another famous author I heard about who got like 2-3 hours of sleep a day. She worked all day and then at night into the next early morning she wrote and then slept for a few hours before work. She was so devoted to her writing and lack of sleep paid off. She made as an Indie Author $20,000 off her stories in 6 Months and $2 Million in two years and then made a lucrative publishing deal with a big time publishing house.
It seems my replies are turning into mini novels again, lol! I am so long winded! Anyway again I am glad NaNoWriMo worked out for you and that you finished it and had a somewhat good time with it, it seems! Thanks for sharing your experiences with this writing challenge and I hope future writing challenges go well for you as well!
Happy Writing!