Hey guys, its been awhile… If you remember from a way, way, earlier post – I said that I was in my first year of college. With this being said, again, I have been struggling getting my blog posts up and writing reviews as I try to get into the college groove with homework, midterms and the dreadful finals that are coming within 4 weeks! This scares me BUT I think I can do it and that helped me decide I was going to do NaNoWriMo this year and actually win.
SO I guess this is me letting you know that I am writing, I am struggling but I am slowly getting in the moments of writing. I also wanted to find advice for myself, someone to hear from that will get me going but have come up with nothing and this also gave me the idea to encourage others to keep writing on and maybe chat if needed!
Um well, welcome to my version of encouragement for you all to finish NaNoWriMo and get through this month together. If you would like some advice that I have learned myself keep reading, if you think you got it and can do it without my advice that’s fine too, if you are willing to share it with me – go ahead! I need it and want it because I am NOT a professional writer but desperately want to be. Ok here is my advice for first time writers and NaNoWriMo’s:
- Do you babe. This book you are writing is all yours, it is not your parents’ book, not you siblings’ book, not your goldfishes book, not your backyard’s book, this is YOUR book therefore write whatever the hell you want. Do not let anyone confuse you on your goal of what to write, ignore the people who think they should tell you what to write, when to write and how to write. This is your story, write it. Do you babe.
- Set a time to write. This is a book you need to write in a month and honestly its a lot to write in a month. I believe its about 1,600 words a day to finish on time and while it sounds difficult you can do it. I usually write at least an hour before bed, sometimes I take notes on my phone in between classes and this helps me put my thoughts together coherently that way I am better organized and can write immediately and not flustered but as I said do you and whatever is comfortable for you.
- Organization is not necessarily key. I am a disorganized writer, I usually write as I go meaning I don’t have an outline and a perfect structure as a lot of writers do. My imagination is basically as big as a peanut which is why I am majoring in something that needs the least imagination to graduate. Sometimes I will try to organize myself but then it just takes away time from my writing so I just write. If you like organization this is not me ragging on you, go you! I admire people who have their stuff together, I, however, am not one of those people.
- Do not be scared of your book – it can smell fear. Its kind of like eyeliner, the fear takes over and suddenly you have a black eye that is eyeliner. You want it to be smooth and perfect but the truth is that its not always going to be great the first time around. Take your time and be brave! Mistakes WILL happen but its what EVERYONE goes through. This book is like your child, you make the rules, you set them down and rule the world.
- Just write. I know its vague and I have heard this from every author I have met and it kind of disappointed me because that is all I have been doing but its really the only thing to say. Don’t worry, just write.
So that is the advice I have so far. I’m pretty sure as I go along I will have more advice to give and receive (hopefully). Currently my word count is 5,011 words but I have yet to write anything yet so I’m hoping to hit 7,000 before I go to sleep. Its only 7 where I am at right now so I’m sure I can get there. Also I am not sure where my book is going, I have an idea but I guess we will see.
How are you doing with your writing? Is it going as planned? Or writing itself as you go along, like me?
I know you can do it and I hope to hear from some of you, whether its here on my blog or on Instagram, Twitter and such. Let me know what you think of this post that way I can decided whether or not to post more or stick to my reviewing ways! Thank you readers for reading and I will have another blog post up soon,
Over and out.
A Book Fanatic Obsession 