Guest Post by writer Treskie

 

This week I asked my friend Treskie to do the guest post and explain to us all about NaNoWriMo {because I must admit it still confuses me though I have had many friends tell me about it...}. And she has done an exceptional job! Enjoy!!!!!

 



 

 

 

If you've been in the blogging world at all, you have probably heard of the National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, for short. Am I right? No? Oh. 

Well.... for those of you who have not heard of NaNoWriMo, I've been asked to explain it to you. 

*smirk*

So, NaNo is basically a get-up-and-go for writers. You know that feeling, when you have this perfect idea for a story, but the notion of sitting down and writing is overwhelming and terrifying? NaNo gives you the kick in the pants you need to get you sitting down at your computer and doing the impossible: Writing.

In a sentence, the gist of NaNo is that you write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. 

Thirty days. 

And you're like..... 

 

 

But actually, it's not as hard as it sounds. 50,000 words is only about a hundred and seventy-five pages. And that is only about five pages a day. And that is only 1,667 words a day. Two hours of writing. (If you're good and don't blog surf or pinterest.... if you do those, it'll be a bit longer. *grin*)

Now, before you get all, "Haaaaaahahaha! No way can I write a good novel in the single month of November!" Bear in mind that it is not supposed to be a masterpiece. It's about quantity, not quality, and you just want to get the words in. The story doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't need a tight plot, it doesn't need deep characters. All it needs is fifty-thousand words. You don't need to obsess over details, or if the MC has a character arc.

I'm not going to lie though, it's not easy, it's not a breeze. In fact, it's pretty hard. Especially if you're like me and don't usually write more than 500 words a week. But with the proper incentive, you can do anything. 

 

 

It's not something to stress over, you don't even need to let people read it. It's not judged or seen by anyone besides you. 

It is just a motivational thing. 

It's there to make you brainstorm and write without thinking.

It's there to make you write the rough draft which you can go back and tighten up later.

And it works! 

I have always had a hard time writing. Don't get me wrong; I love writing, it's awesome! I find words fascinating and creating characters whom I can fall in love with is wonderful. But I am a perfectionist and it's hard for me to have this spectacular story in my mind and not have it turn out as epic as I envisioned it. So I'm that writer who has massive amounts of novel beginnings on my laptop, and up til now, I had only ever finished one book, which I wrote in about two months when I was thirteen. 

NaNoWriMo made me finish a second book. 

Sure, Myths and Magic is in serious need of editing, and re-writing, and tightening up. But the point is, I wrote it. I wrote it in thirty days! 

So, is NaNo worth it? Is it worth spending a few hours on your laptop ever day for a month? 

I'm going to say yes, it's definitely worth the time and effort. Because when it's done, you have an entire novel just waiting to be fixed up and sent to a publisher. 

You can find the website here. Sign up! If you have any questions they have an awesome FAQ page. Also, the good news is: if you missed NaNoWriMo in November, you don't have to wait a year, you can do it this summer! There's a NaNo in June and August as well which I'm planning to do. 

Be defiant. 

God bless!

~Treskie~

Hey! Call me Treskie. I'm a seventeen year old girl from somewhere in the Sierra Mountains. I enjoy doing loads of artsy things, drawing being something particularly special to me. I sing all the time, and I want to one day soon get married and have a big family. I blog over at Occasional Randomness, and I can promise you a cup of coffee--or tea, if you prefer--if you come by and visit.