If you've ever wandered into the bookish or creative parts of social media, anywhere near November for the last decade or so, you'll have come across NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month is an annual internet project, and a source of joy, stress, excitement and more stress for thousands of people all over the world. The aim is to write a fifty thousand word novel in the thirty days of November, averaging out to 1665 words per day.
I've tried this a few times, but things always get in my way. I've usually been at University, where assessed essays are written around the same time, or grappling with a very demanding job and barely having time to do more than eat and sleep in my spare moments. This year, however, things are different. My academic career is done for the moment, and my work will be part time for the beginning of the month, so there is no better time to take advantage of this, and finally complete a NaNo project once and for all!
To help keep me accountable I am going to be updating my Instagram and Twitter daily with my thoughts and progress, and I'll also be doing more in-depth weekly catch-ups here on F L Y N N, so if you're up for watching a month long meltdown feel free to follow along. If you're doing NaNo as well it might provide some useful motivation! If only to inspire you to be better than me...
To get started, I'm going to share a little about the novel that I'm writing, and what I've done so far to prepare.
MY NOVEL
. The Witches in the Water (or The Breaking of the Eighth Gate) is a grimdark fantasy novel drawing on myth and folklore.
. The novel takes place in a world that is slowly being swallowed up by the sea, which is home to dangerous creatures and dark magic.
. There are two protagonists, and the narrative switches between them. One is classically heroic and very likeable, the other is neither of those things.
. It explores the consequences of a regressive and fear-mongering ideology, that calls for the persecution of 'othered' people. (sound familiar?)
. It may be the first in a series, if I get to the end and decide I want to continue writing.
. It is borne from about 13,000 words that I wrote almost two years ago playing around with this idea. I have decided to take those vignettes and flesh it all out into a full novel.
PREPARATIONS
. Some NaNo writers go in on November 1st with a blank page and just see what happens. Those people are the epitome of madness. I have a solid but fairly loose plotline, with the major stepping stones of my story set out but leaving a little wiggle room to add or change things if I get a burst of clarity or inspiration. I don't know exactly how it will end yet, but I'm confident that I'll figure it out as I go along.
. I've used a tip that I found on the NaNo forums, and spent an hour or so creating a sticky-note spread of short phrases: emotions, concepts, and images that come up when I muse about my plot. I ended up with phrases such as 'Glinting scales in deep water', 'The smell of blood and salt' and 'Damp air clinging to shivering skin'. It was really useful to spend time really delving into the 'essence' of the novel, and coming up with small phrases that can be inspiring and grounding if ever I find myself getting lost while I'm writing.
. Carving out time. Much of my previous failures in NaNoWriMo came simply from the fact that I didn't take it seriously enough to make time for it. I just told myself that I would write whenever I was free, either in the evenings or in between other tasks. Unsurprisingly that never worked out. This year I am going to dedicate at least ninety minutes a day to writing, preferably in the morning so it's done and dusted, and, on days where I can, I will be going out to sit in a cafe so that I can really get in the zone.
. Sharing on social media. I'm trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to limit my time on social media. It's not good for me at all, and can really affect my ability to operate in the flesh-and-blood world. However, this month I am cultivating my social media use entirely to keep me on track and accountable for my writing. I am going to finally use it for motivation, rather than procrastination! She says now... But if you'd like to do the same feel free to use my insta-story sized graphics below!Thank you for reading, I can't wait to see what this month brings. Wish me luck!
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