Hello Wattpadders!
This is me! Pranxtor! Do you still remember me? Oh... I just want to say that I hope you can forgive me for I just participated in the month-long event that is NaNoWriMo!
It was one hell of a month and a very big challenge for me. This was something I had never dared to do before. I barely ever finish stories, much less full length novels!
Here are my tips for doing NaNoWriMo from personal experience:
- Write an outline. Seriously. You'll never know how valuable it is to you until the month starts and you have nothing to write about. Trust me when I say this because I had no outline and I did not hit my word count on the first day. If you can't write an outline at least think about what you are going to do.
- Attempt to hit the word count every day. Catching up is no fun. :(
- Shove your inner editor up in a cupboard, lock it up, and throw away the key. When you have to write 1,667 words per day they do not need to be there.
- Write whenever you can. At home, on the bus, at school while the teacher is talking... Jokes :D Don't get yourself in trouble. But you'll find more time to write if you do this, plus, you don't have to stay up until 11:30 every night to hit your goal.
- No procastination! Very important. Wacthing TV or playing games is no excuse. Think of all of the catch up... *groan* You can do that once you've hit your daliy word goal.
- Do not set yourself an impossible challenge. If you've only ever writtern 100 words in your life don't aim for 50,000 words. It's not going to happen and it is completely unrealistic.
- Don't let writer's block get the better of you. It will most probably come at the worst of times. The only way to get over it is a) take a break (a short one mind you) b) write something else, something short or c) don't start playing computer games. It will only make things worse.
- Social media is a no-no! Friends distract one so easily. Also, they won't need you for that month. turn it off whenever you right.
- Sleep. Sleep keeps you going. It isn't good to stare at a screen 24 hours a day. Drinking and eating also come under this rule.
- Most importantly:
DO NOT GIVE UP!
You have set yourself a goal and you should try your best to achieve it. Everyone thought of me as crazy but I did it anyway and I succeeded (and went mad along the way...)
So those are all my tips... There are a bit more than I'd thought there would be, I guess I can't stop writing now! Do you want to hear how I went? Of course you do! Thank you!
I WON! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
The satisfaction is amazing! You really feel so great when you finish.
I wrote my novel which is entitled "Eternal Darkness".
Blurb: Kiayani has been sent away days after her 18th birthday to be married to some nobleman in the capital. On route she makes a decision that will change her life- she is going to run away. She runs into the eternal darkness that shrouds her homeland, finding both a way to free her self and her people from the curse that has stopped the sun rising for more than 100 years.
Here is an excerpt for your reading pleasure:
The little girl clutched her father’s fingers until the ends went red and numb. Her face was splotchy and wet with snot and tears. Her hair was tied back simply but didn’t hide her wide eyes which were red. He didn’t notice the numbness of his fingers because his heart was throbbing more powerfully. They were both dressed in the finest clothes made of only black material. Behind the little girl and her father followed the three brothers. Each had their heads bowed in sorrow and silent tears dripped down their chins. They were walking towards the village square where lights beamed down, trying to hold back the darkness. In the centre of the square was a long black box. Inside was the little girl’s mother, hair as dark as her daughters and beautiful eyes that now lay closed forever. The father halted his children and went alone towards the coffin. He leant over the open box and placed his lips on her cold forehead. Then sadly he shut the box, not wanting to look at her corpse any longer.
He went back to his children who clung to their father. The little girl stared at the box with watery eyes. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Her mother had been fine a few days ago and then she had disappeared into her bedroom. The girl had waited at her door for days just to see her mother. She had watched the doctors go in and out, always slamming the door in her face.
It was on the third day when she was allowed to go in. She crept towards her mother’s bed with weary eyes. She saw her mother, paler than ever, not even able to lift a limb to help herself. She crawled into bed beside her mother and hugged her tightly. Her mother sang to her in a croaky voice that was so unlike her own that it scared the girl. She told her one last story before her husband came in and took the sad girl away. He did not want to see her hurt by her mother’s death.
When she woke the next day she rushed upstairs to see her mother who would surely be recovered by now. Instead, she found the bed empty and her father crouched by the bed sobbing. She ran over to him worried.
For those of you interested my book will be available for purchase in the coming weeks and I will post the link in a new blog and on my profile page.
That is all have to say about NaNoWriMo for now. I'd just like to say that I am going to return to my previous works on Wattpad and I will find the time to finish them so that I can move on to new works. Yes, that does mean I will be finishing Half-Faye and One Way Train. I may also have some other surprises for you!
Pranxtor out! ^^
