NaNoWriMo 2015 | Conclusion

Well, it’s over now.

If you won, congratulations! You never gave up, you powered through, you wrote a book! You’re a writer, and that’s something to be proud of. Go celebrate with Netflix or chocolate or, I don’t know, do whatever you want with your life.

Not all of us won, however. Here are some reasons you shouldn’t feel too bad about that:

1. I didn’t either, so you’re not alone. Yes, I’m not very happy about winning. Which is good, in its own way, because this is just going to motivate me further.

2. You started. That alone is pretty great. Pat yourself on the back. Right now. Do it. 

3. You wrote. Yeah, so you didn’t hit the 50k. But you wrote. You created something out of nothing, even if it was only 5k words.

4. You can keep writing. What’s stopping you? Finish that book. Do it because you can.

5. Failure is fine, quitting is not. Yes, as difficult as it is, sometimes we must fail every so often. See, the problem is other people get discouraged by how great we are, so sometimes we just have to fail to make themselves feel better about themselves. Okay, okay, I’m kidding. But my point is that failing happens. So what? You don’t have to quit. You never do. Keep writing!

How’d your NaNoWriMo go for you if you participated? Even if you didn’t, tell me about your writing experiences.  Feel free to leave some inspiration in the comments!

Goodreads: Becca and Books

Email: Kumquot@Comcast.net
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 86907
Montgomery Village, MD 20886

NaNoWriMo 2015 | Prep, Managing Time, and More!

I’m going to be participating in NaNoWriMo 2015.

Surprise!

This is actually going to be my first NaNoWriMo, so I’m probably not the best person to asking for tips. However, I thought I would share some of my plans to handle time, how I’m prepping, etc.

(In case you’re wondering, here’s my NaNoWriMo profile: BeccaandBooks)

Preparing for Your Novel

1. Create your story. Obviously you can’t start writing yet, but planning can start months before. You can start with a little synopsis and work your way into an outline, or whatever you need to map out your story.
2. Know your characters! I like to make a list of all my characters’ attributes, personalities, etc. It really helps to have a full grasp of all the dimensions a character might have.
3. Research. Tedious, I know. But it seems that no matter what you’re writing about, you’re going to need to do at least a little bit of research. You can start by knowing what information in your story you need to know more about and just googling articles on it, it can be as simple as that. Though if you’re rich and writing about ten countries around the world, you might as well buy a few plane tickets!

Stocking up

1. Coffee. And lots of it. Fewer hours of sleep seems to be the side effect of writing 50,000 words in a month.
2. Outline/Story Map/Synopsis. As I said above, you really want to have a plan for what you want to write. There’s absolutely no time for writer’s bock, and it’s okay if you veer off your original plan, but you absolutely need a backup.
3. What inspires you? Whatever it is, get plenty of it! If it’s a scent of a certain candle or the album of your favorite band, make sure it’s ready when you need to write.

Managing Time

This is probably the toughest part of NaNoWriMo. We all know that their are certain things we can’t get out of. School, work, we need to be there. Though there are probably things you don’t need to do as much. You can give up most of the time you spend on social media. You’ll have to give up on quite a bit of reading for a month :(. Plans with friends should be kept to a minimum, especially because weekends are the best time to write like crazy.

Sneak a few words in whenever you can! Use your lunch break and any other time you usually just use to think your thoughts or flip through an old catalog. Don’t waste any time!

What to do in October

1. Finish a series you’ve been meaning to get to. You won’t have time in November!
2. Write some blog posts. Clearly I’m lacking in this category, but I’m working on it! Expect a few more posts as this month comes to an end and some NaNoWriMo updates in November.
3. Relax! You really need to, because there won’t be any time in November. Make plans with a friend you’ve been meaning to see, or finish binge-watching on Netflix.

I hope that was helpful! Let me know if you’re doing NaNoWriMo this year in the comments!

Becca

9 Quotes for Writers to Live By

Even writers need a few quotes for inspiration.