When I first saw this hashtag I got really excited (doesn’t take much). Twitter was in a frenzy of excitement about it and I knew it was something to do with writing but no idea what. With the help of my bloggy friends I discovered that it’s National Novel Writing Month. A month where writers new and established alike pledge to complete a target of 50k words during the month of November. I instantly wanted to join in but was hesitant due to the enormity of the word count. I am not a full-time writer and although I am on leave from work currently, 50k words is a huge ask for someone who has barely written before.
Then I realised…….
The word count is not the point – for me. I have my idea and a brief overview of my children’s book already planned out. I just don’t always have the motivation or dedicate the time to writing for longer periods. To be honest, I’ve no idea how many words my book is even likely to be – I’m at about 500 currently. I’m also don’t manage well if I place expectations on myself as failing to meet them makes me disappointed and I run the risk of becoming obsessive about word counts and time.
So I assertively decided…….
I am going to participate in #NaNoWriMo. But I’m changing the rules to suit me because writing should be a pleasurable experience for me personally and not become stressful and another thing to beat myself up about. I’m not working to a deadline to complete a book, I am writing because I always wanted to and I’ve finally got the courage to do so.
My pledge for #NaNoWriMo is:
I will try my best to write every weekday (weekends are for taming the kids and putting my best Mary Poppins face on) but I will not be annoyed and disappointed with myself if I can’t or simply don’t want to.
My book will move forward in progress this month.
I will use this as opportunity to develop a first draft and I will not be self destructive if it isn’t perfect or how I envisioned because it is a first draft.
Happy ~NaNoWriMo everyone x
Exactly- you do what suits you! That’s one of my fave things about NaNoWriMo: it’s no pressure 🙂 good luck!
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Thank You, and to you too. I’ds just like to move forward with it and gain some momentum. xx
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All the best with #NaNoWriMo I’m sure you will do really well. I thought about doing it too but I, like you don’t want to pressure myself. My book is currently at 10000 words and I’m happy with that, only about another 80000 to hit my target 🙈
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I’m using it as a motivational thing to get going, I’m certainly not aiming for a specific word count. Just to be a fair bit further on than I am now. Good luck with your book xx What is it about? Or is it a secret?
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Well I wish you all the best with it. In a nutshell it’s about the effects of child abuse during adulthood and centres around a man who endured abuse as a child and his story as an adult. There’s a sneak preview of the first chapter on my blog called A lesson in dreams if you’d like to read it. Xx
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Oh great – I’ve allocaterd some blog reading time in today so I’ll pop over. Sounds intriguing.
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I love how you’ve adapted the challenge to work around you! It sounds like such a great idea x
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I wanted a motivational.tool rather than something else to make me stressed .
Thanks for reading x
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Let me know when your book comes out! I’ll be looking forward to it.
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Thank you. I imagine it will be a while 😀
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That’s a great way to do it, use it for motivation but without pressure, good luck #thesatsesh
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Than you for reading x 😀
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That’s 500 words more than my book! You are so right: do it at your own pace, and in a way that works for you. And good luck! #thesatsesh
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Thanks and after yesterday there’s 200 more. Xx if I do that every weekday it will be coming in nicely by then end if the month. Thanks for reading xxx
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I really like your way of approaching NaNiWriMo. I think that the word count can be distressing and make you feel discouraged, when this is supposed to be about empowering you to write. I get that it is a challenge, but any writing is good.
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Thanks xx I also have no idea what my word count will be as it’s a children’s novel so not as long as an adults one x
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It’s just important that you write!
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This is something I’ve always wanted to take part in, it just seems like such a big task when i have so many other things to do. Maybe I could adapt it like you? I wish you the best of luck.
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Thank you. I’d say do it but make it work for you. I don’t want pressure – I just neede something to motivate me so if I end up with 5000 more words on wmy book than I would have had – success!
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Good luck on your writing and I hope you enjoy your time with it! Visiting you today from the Mix it up linky. laurensparks.net
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Thank you – It’s drivel at the minute but I’ve read a lot of authors claim the first draft always is – it’s just prep work.
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Hello,
I wish you all the best in your participation to NaNoWriMo! It’s great that you were able to set your own rules. I agree with you, writing under stress may not be very good in the long run for creativity. #GlobalBlogging
Best,
Sigrid
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I can day this because it’s my hobby though. Thanks for reading xx
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#thesatsesh ooo I love a human with a vision AND a plan. Best of luck and I look forward to reading your work in the future.
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Thanks for reading x
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Woohoo! Good for you
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I hit enter before I finished typing 😀
Good for you for joining in and giving yourself a goal, I normally use November to write my heart out but this year my parents are visiting for 2 weeks so I have a feeling I will not get to do as much as normal. But at least I’ll have family time. #GlobalBlogging
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Although I’ll have missed 3 days due to other stuff but I will have a good sesh on Friday
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It’s a marathon, not a sprint – you’ll get there! #DreamTeam
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Family time is more important. I have but lad’s birthday and a funeral tomorrow, I’ve been busy today and just wasn’t in the mood yesterday. I’ll do extra Friday x
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I was recently told about this and looked into it, but I didn’t really understand the point other than the motivation, I am not good at understanding the point though. #DreamTeam
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That is the point! It’s about goals, motivation and maybe spending time not putting it off xx
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Book! I’m lucky if I have time to blog and read a bit, Oy! You go girl! I believe! #mixitup xo
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I’m trying 🤣😂 I’m trying to make the most of My leave from work
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