Camp NaNoWriMo

/ vanessafowler

Camp NaNoWriMo

Today, I accomplished my goal of writing 50,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo!

Things didn’t go as planned:

  • I’d started Camp NaNoWriMo with a fresh new outline of Mirror of Sparrows, and I envisioned myself writing a complete first draft based on that outline. What a convenient vision!
  • About half way through, I realized that my outline had some major flaws. Oh well.
  • I started deleting and rewriting major chunks; I thought there was no way I was going to make my goal. I was very sad : (

Unexpected friendships and support:

  • I discovered a wonderful writing community.
  • On days when I really didn’t know if I could write #nanowordsprints made all the difference in the world.
  • Thank you @_voxveritasvita for encouraging me to stop deleting and just keep writing. Your time management skills, productivity and thoughtfulness inspired me.
  • I now love Twitter.

POV experiments:

  • NaNoWriMo was a great opportunity to experiment with point-of view.
  • I tried writing chunks in first person, and had so much fun doing it: I discovered that words flow fast for me when I write in 1st POV and its much easier to go really deep with the characters.
  • In the end, I decided to stick with third person. Though many YA novels are in first, I enjoy reading the third perspective more. Go figure.

New ideas:

  • Now, I have lots of fresh material and ideas for a new outline! Back to where I started!
  • I realize that some of you, especially those of you who care deeply for me, are concerned about the amount of rewriting I’m doing. Please don’t worry about me; I love it!

 

10 thoughts on “Camp NaNoWriMo”

  2. I’m glad that you’re loving the process! When I saw that you deleted and rewrote chunks of your outline I thought, “oh no!” but I was happy to hear that you’re loving it 🙂 When I think about some of the large-scale projects that I’ve undertaken I realize that there seemed to be many more setbacks than victories while going through it but even so, I always loved the process and I think I’ve gotten more out of that then actually accomplishing what I’ve set out to accomplish. I think that’s why I’m so appreciative of your sharing your writing process with us. The finished product is the good stuff but how you got there is the truly great stuff!

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