Prepping For NaNoWriMo Writing Entry #1: What Did I Just Get Myself Into?

Where to begin. . . where to begin. . . where to begin!!!!

Well I guess the beginning is a good a place as any. For those of you who may not know what NaNoWriMo is I will tell you now. This lovely semi-acronym is short for National (Na) Novel (No) Writing (Wri) Month (Mo).

This takes place every November and it allows writers to dedicate a full month to concentration of one or more dedicated writing projects. The intent is to finish writing a rough draft of your novel within the entire month.

I am feeling a sense of writer community pride as I go to participate in one of the most celebrated writing months of the year. Can you also believe it is the month of my birthday as well?! So exciting!!!

I created a whole video dedicated to what I wanted my goals to be for this time of prepping. I had a few weeks left of October or as the writing community loves to call it Preptober that I really wanted to make the most of it by getting myself as prepared as I could be as an amateur writer who knew nothing of how to prepare for the event.

In the end I decided the best place to start was with some goals in mind and the projects that I wanted to work on. It ended up looking a little something like this, though it does look better thought through in video format.

1) Create a writing schedule

This is important as you cannot begin to have a successful set up of a project or idea without having a plan for what you hope to accomplish, what you hope to work on, and the time in which you want to prioritize and dedicate to it.

2) Set up a running Vocal/Medium schedule

This was important to me for many reasons, the least of which is the prioritization of income. I have written a previous article where I discussed this in further depth.

The basic idea is that while I love writing and YouTube for the creativity and personal interests aspect, I also need to be able to pay for my college tuition, living expenses, groceries, gas and other essential needs.

While these are two aspects of my life that I want to incorporate into a full-time career it will take time. Time that I will gladly spend to make a reality, but not one something that if I allow it to consume me will allow me to live.

So for now writing on these platforms must have a certain scheduling to them as they are a part of my job.

3) Set up a tentative timeline for 3 NaNoWriMo projects

This is pretty much self-explanatory. I have 3 projects that I would like to attempt at getting through a good chunk of.

I want to first and foremost work on my poetry collection. I have my basic rough draft that has been edited through multiple times. I would like to type it up and work on one more round, add any poems that would fit into an assigned layout, work on layout, and finally get it out to readers for feedback.

The second project I want to work on is based on a short story that I had written for a magazine article at ASU through a creative writing workshop. I will be calling it 'An Attempt'. This will be a hard-hitting novel showcasing the power of choices and the effect it has on not only the individual that makes the choice but those around him/her.

Last but certainly not least, I will be working on a project that is based off a fanfiction story of a book I never read and a movie series I regret watching. I am not about to admit that Twilight itself is by any means an inspiration but the characters were. Specifically the characters of Jacob Black and Seth Clearwater.

I want to make basic plot outlines of each, create a detailed arc of what the story will entail, craft artistic timelines, and just for fun create aesthetic boards that I could use as a reference guide.

4) Finish round of edits for poetry collection

This is the main goal and priority of this month. I want to get my poetry collection as close to the publishing stage as I can.

I am so ready for this project to be published and in my hands! If for no other reason than to say I was actually able to do it!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this article! I am just a girl with a zest for life and a dream that I will one day be able to say that I was a published author. As I stumble through life, reading books and creating in-depth analysis, filming fun bookish-style challenges, and articulate the toils and victories that come from the behind-the-scenes life of authorship you can follow my journey by subscribing to our amazing family on YouTube!

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And a good following on Twitch! I will be starting some collaboration streams with a good friend of mine who also has aspirations to be an author, so if you want to participate in a virtual chat with us: ask us questions or even give advice then feel free to follow and I will be posting the schedules on there!

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