Hi everyone!
This blog post was supposed to go up yesterday, August thirty-first, because that was the last day of the month and the last day of Camp Nano but I was out of town and didn't have any internet.
The last task for Camp Nanowrimo was set by OneMoreSouthernBelle:
The task: Talk about what you have gained from the Nanowrimo experience, what you’ve enjoyed, your highlights and what you would say to people who are considering doing a nanowrimo event
My Response: In july I spent a lot of time thinking about this novel and planning it out. I didn't plan it out completely but I did give it a lot of thought. When August started I was not feeling a lot of motivation to write even though I had so much motivation in July to plan so I started getting behind on my word count. I had decided to do a YouTube search for Nanowrimo Vlogs because I had been considering doing my own vlog so I wanted to see how others did them since I had never done one before. When doing the search I came across a video of TracyMichelle210's and I really loved her video and I heard her say that she was going to be doing videos throughout August so I subscribed to her and then through her I found OneMoreSouthernBelle, who she was doing her collab with.
Their videos were very inspiring and I found a lot of great tips and inspiration that helped me to get caught back up on my word count. I think that if it had not been for them I probably would have quit Nanowrimo this month and I am so glad that I chose not to quit.
I have learned a lot about myself as a writer this month. I may not be doing anything with the novel I've written this month but writing it has helped me to see that I would really like to try and make writing a career. I have been so passionate and in love with story telling even before I knew how to write. It has always been something I've loved so much and for so long I have been putting it off and tossing around with the idea of doing it professionally but now I have decided that I will take it seriously.
I have a story that I started about eight years ago when I was a senior in high school and I have gone back a few times since then but I've been putting that off too. It is a story I have always loved and I want to get it written.
I something in a book called "Writing the Block Buster Novel" by Albert Zuckerman that said, "Most people who set out to write a novel never finish it. At first you're kept going by the novelty (pardon the pun) of the process: inventing characters and drama right out of your head. But when you have fifty or a hundred pages written, you realize that you're going to have to do this for another six months or a year to finish it. You think of all the movies you'll miss, all the evenings in the pub with your friends, all the TV shows you won't see, all the jobs around the house that won't get done-- and for what? For a novel that in all probability no one will ever want to read. At this point most people give up. A few, however, say, 'The heck with it, maybe nobody will ever want to read it, but I've started it and I'm going to finish it.' "A lot of times I've told myself, I'm probably not a very good writer, there are so many other writers out there that are so much better than me, maybe no one will want to read my book, maybe it's not a good idea...and maybe it is true that no one will want to read my book but I will never know unless I try and if for any other reason I want to write this story because I really feel like it should be written and it can be a learning experience for myself and to show myself that I can accomplish something like this. It is really hard to even get a rough draft out and that is why I'm so thankful for Nanowrimo. It may be hard also to edit but I know it will be worth it.
OneMoreSouthernBelle has been an inspiration to me because she had a story that she wrote that she loves and she worked hard to get it edited and get it to where she could publish it and it is a wonderful story. I want to be able to do that too. So thank you so much Ali for being such an inspiration to me.
I really enjoyed taking part in the collab and I have learned so much about myself from being able to think about each task that Tracy and Ali set. So I'm very thankful that they allowed me to be apart of the collab with them.
Advice that I would give to others thinking about doing Nanowrimo is, to definitely give it a try. Even if you do not make it to 50,000 just trying it can really be a great experience and allow you to meet other writers from all over the world who have the same experiences as you. If you are passionate about writing and you really want to sit down and get yourself to write out a draft of a novel then Nanowrimo will be a great experience for you because when you sit down to write that draft you are not alone. There are so many other people around to support you. Have fun, believe in yourself and know that you can accomplish anything if you set your mind to it.
Even though this is the end of this Nanowrimo event I will still be posting more blog entries about writing, reading, planning out a novel (because that is what I am going to be working on these next two months until November). In October I will start posting some tips on how to prepare for Nanowrimo and also a post on how to decide whether you should be a planner or a pantser and what that means exactly.
So stick around and I hope you have enjoyed my blog and that you will continue to enjoy it.
<3 Andrea
PS. I wanted to share some pics of where I was today. My dad has a cabin out in the woods and I often go up there to hang out and during the summer he and I ride our bikes down to the river for swimming and grilling.
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| Our cabin |
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| It is over a miles ride down to the river so we load our bikes up with everything we need including: two water cushions, a cooler with hot dogs, hamburgers, ketchup, buns, mustard, a throw away grill, a canteen, change of clothes, towels, and other little things :D |
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| It was such a nice day that I relaxed at the end of the dock |
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| We jumped from the dock and went swimming. When the tide got low we found a board at the bottom with rusty nails sticking out of it. Glad we didn't jump on it! Never jump off a dock unless you know what's at the bottom! |
