[NaNoWriMo 2018] One month. 50k words. Let’s go!

https://nanowrimo.org/

I’ve been following the NaNoWriMo project for at least 5 years now, and although last year I thought of doing it, this year I finally decided I will participate. For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month is (according to Wikipedia, who says it best) “an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. Participants attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript between November 1 and November 30.”

It’s a great event for wannabee writers, as the project forms a community around it. People support each other in the quest of reaching the 50k. That means writing sprints, pep talks, YouTube vlogs, tips & tricks, and so on. Just check the Twitter hashtags for it, and you’ll understand, some have already started preparing for it (#nanowrimo, #preptober)

I decided to do this project because I, like many others, have a crazy imagination. Story ideas pop up out of nowhere, conversations run in my mind for minutes, and I can perfectly imagine a love story….but until now, when it came down to actually writing the words on paper, I got stuck. Well, actually, I didn’t even have the courage to write them down.

I know I tried once and I failed. I was in my car, driving to work, and lines and lines of dialogue of a story were running through my head, so I decided to write down somehow. The moment I opened the Notes app and I started a new note, I blanked. It was like my mind refused to actually make those words real. It was so weird: I could hear the dialogue in my mind, but I couldn’t translate it on paper. I kind of panicked and got frustrated at that moment, so I let it go and went on with my life. But right now, in November 2018, I’m going to face this situation.

My goal for NaNoWrimo 2018 is not to write a book or half of book. My goal is to write 50k words. It can be parts of a novel, 3 articles, and 1 short story. But it has to be 50k words. I have to start forming a habit of writing, but most importantly, I have to get out of this funk and start trusting my ideas and my writing. I know I will suck at the beginning, but I also know I can learn and I can adapt and that I will write better as time passes.

So tomorrow I start the exciting new project (and chapter) of my life.
Let the writing begin!

p.s. Of course I will somehow document the whole month 🙂 and yes, I will write up the conclusions (and hopefully, tell you about my good results) in December