The Writing Adventure Has Begun Again!
I haven’t written much for Camp NaNoWriMo. Although it’s only been one day so far, and I have about 29 more days to go. Today is a new day that I can write as much as possible. The problem with starting yesterday was that there were so many distractions. Even though I have fewer distractions today, I have a few things to do in the afternoon. So I should be writing right now on my story since I have time right now. I just wanted to make a quick update about my progress.
The first days of writing are tough. “Actually, writing is easy. Writing well is hard,” said Richard Castle (FYI: his birthday was yesterday! No joke!) on his official blog. I know he’s a fictional character on a TV show, but he has really good advice for writers you just have to be alert. Several TV script writers have written his character well. So much so that a fictional author advice to me is just as impactful as the real-life authors. Anyways, yesterday when I was struggling with my writing. I remembered something that Castle had said, and I quickly searched Google (because I thought it was a quote he said in the show) and it brought be back to a previous blog post on his official author website. I remembered reading it before, but it seemed to make sense yesterday more than before. Now I don’t have a job right now, but I am shadowing to learn more about teaching to prepare me for grad school. So I have time to write though I do have a few things to do this month (including the shadowing time). Therefore, what he talks about balancing writing bestsellers and his “day job,” doesn’t really apply to me right now but his advice still works. He talks about researching has helped him not only for inspiration to find what he wants to write, but also affects his writing. “It can help instill a sense of powerful authenticity in one’s work. It can spark great moments of discovery, open avenues of storytelling, and give one great insight into deeply rich and complex human experience,” said Castle about research on his blog post.
That was what my main concern was on day one. Did I do enough planning and research before diving into writing this novela? I wasn’t too sure, but I felt that it was better to write something than nothing at all. Maybe in the process of writing I’ll figure out what I do know, and what I need to research later when I begin to edit my work. He had begun his blog post by explain about procrastination. Maybe in the process of writing this post, I’m doing just that, procrastinating. But I keep insisting that this will help me in a few minutes when I work on my story for a bit before I have to go to the university campus for my shadowing.
Castle began his blog post, and said, “Like most writers, I indulge in a healthy meditative practice known as procrastination. Some people consider it an act of avoidance, but for me procrastination is a vital artistic process. In fact, procrastination creates the adrenalin rush I need to write effectively.” Something about the words reassured me. I had procrastinated a bit with the planning/research stage, even though I’m a planner. Like I mentioned before, I needed to know at least the basic information to at least start my story. Yesterday I was able to start the story. It may not have been perfect, but that’s what editing is for. “The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike say, a brain surgeon,” said Robert Cormier. This was another quote that reassured me as well. I have to keep a constant reminder that what I’m writing for Camp NaNoWriMo is a first rough draft, and that I can edit later.
The great thing about Camp NaNoWriMo is that my novella has a deadline. Having a deadline, isn’t too new to me with college and newspaper, but I find it’s necessary for me especially when it’s a larger project. I enjoy getting pep talks, and updating my progress, on the their site… especially chatting with other writers who are participating as well. Everything about NaNoWriMo is amazing, no matter if it’s in November or another month. I could tell you a lot, but you really just have to experience it for yourself, if you haven’t already.
This most important things are scheduling time to write, and making sure you have focus while you’re writing. As soon as you have the flow going, you just have to ride the wave. Then when the wave ends, you just have to quickly find a new one, and just keep writing as much as you can. This is what I’m going to try to do. Though no actual waves, I can’t surf… unless you count the internet, haha.
Now I really should go eat brunch, and start writing on my novella before I have to leave… Don’t worry, I’ll have time to write more later…
To all those who are participating in Camp NaNoWriMo: keep writing, and remember, we can get to our goals!
You can keep up with my progress by checking my Camp NaNoWriMo profile. Thanks for all the support!!
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