Ola Murphy is tired of shitty men in her life-and she's tired of being hung up on shitty men. After her dog dies, her apartment floods, and she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend, Ola finds herself stuck at her cous...
Welcome to my very first #NaNoWriMo novel! I wrote this piece about two years ago for my Novel Writing Intensive class at Stanford. By the time I finished it, it certainly wasn't the novel I had intended to write. In fact, it was an entirely different story. Different plot, different characters, extra characters (wait until you meet Jo!). But, it was the first novel I had finished for a NaNoWriMo – 30 days, 50,000 words.
For some of you lucky few, the draft that you read was a draft 0. It was what I came up with during that November of 2020. There hadn't been any edits made to the piece, no plots changes, no cutting out, no adding in.
What I'm trying to say is: this was some raw a** material.
However, I'm currently in the ~editing~ stage (so fun, right?) to prepare for Wattys 2022. So, if you notice some changes – don't fret, it's only uphill from here.
However, just in case you might be where I was when I finished the draft 0 of this piece or even while I was writing it – just in case you may be attempting your first NaNoWriMo and experiencing the same emotions I have, I would like to say one thing:
When I finished this book two years ago, I hated it. I loathed it. I thought it was absolutely the worst thing I had ever written in my entire life. Normally, I give novels about 3 months before I return to them, with a fresh mind, to edit. I let dust gather on this one for an entire year before looking back at it – and my mind had completely changed. Yes, there are some flaws. There are some grammar errors and definitely points where I want to add things in, maybe even take some out. But, for a draft 0, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to say to myself: this was pretty d*mn good.
Give yourself a break, if you, like I was, are attempting a NaNoWriMo. Just write. Don't think about whether or not it's good or bad. I'm now preparing for my second NaNoWriMo and utilizing that most crucial piece of information I learned from the first.
On another note, if you do see anything worthy of note or have any plot change recommendations, please do feel free to let me know in the comments! It really does take a village to build a novel. And I absolutely welcome any criticism that might make this piece just a bit better.
Alright, that's the end of my spiel. Thank you for listening! Now, please enjoy (and prepare for a rollercoaster).
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