Tag: Participating In NaNoWriMo

Writing

22 Reasons You Should Not Participate In NaNoWriMo

Herminia Chow11 Comments

I just had to. It’s only fair I weigh the pros and cons equally.

Have you read 22 Reasons You Should Participate in NaNoWriMo?

22 reasons. NaNoWriMo talk. In a list format. All things I love.

  1. You might hate it (you’re entitled to your own opinion).
  2. It’s not for everybody (so by all means, work at your own pace).
  3. It is work (which many people shy away from).
  4. It is a time consuming activity (allotting an hour or more a day to writing).
  5. It requires sacrifices (are you willing to give up TV, friends, sports, etc.?)
  6. It produces crappy first drafts (unless you’re not human).
  7. It is fast-paced (30 days is not much time to write a novel).
  8. It can affect your sleep patterns (on different levels).
  9. It rushes you (especially during the final stretch).
  10. It doesn’t give you much room to breathe (if you make writing a priority).
  11. It can make you grumpy (I’m warning you).
  12. It may destroy your confidence levels (ouch).
  13. It could make you doubt yourself (on multiple occasions).
  14. It doesn’t allow for extensive editing (unless you’re a machine).
  15. It is not easy (ask anybody who has tried it).
  16. It is daunting (writing 50,000 words sounds like a walk in the park, right?)
  17. It can seriously damage your relationships (don’t let that happen).
  18. It will put other things on hold (walking the dog? feeding yourself?).
  19. It adds unnecessary stress (something everyone wants more of, am I correct?).
  20. It hurts everything (your brain, hands, wrists, neck, you name it).
  21. It may not feel all that amazing to you (everyone’s different).
Writing

22 Reasons You Should Participate in NaNoWriMo

Herminia Chow10 Comments

I love the number 22. I also love NaNoWriMo. So I figured why don’t I combine them together in a beautiful list, another thing I love by the way.

  1. It’s a wonderful experience (most of the time).
  2. You’re writing (oh my!).
  3. You’re writing something (not everyone can say that).
  4. You’re writing something you want to be writing (I hope).
  5. You’ll have more than you started off with (yipee!).
  6. You’re not the only one doing it (look online for support).
  7. You get the fire lit longer (assuming you don’t quit after day 1).
  8. You’ll get a lot out of it (trust me on this one).
  9. you will get a taste of the writer’s lifestyle (assuming you don’t quit after day 1).
  10. You won’t have to worry about any leftover Halloween treats (if you have a sweet tooth).
  11. You’re helping the coffee industry (or whatever your drink of choice may be).
  12. You’ll know Microsoft Word like its the back of your hand (after staring at it for an hour or more every day for a month).
  13. You’ll be doing something in your spare time (how exciting is that?).
  14. You won’t ever feel bored in November (you’ll have not time to feel this way, my friend).
  15. You will appreciate every minute in your life that much more (see for yourself).
  16. Your life will change but it won’t be too drastic (no one would ever ask you to forgo sleep, that’s just crazy).
  17. Your life may be altered forever (imagine publishing the book you wrote for NaNoWriMo).
  18. You can back out of it any time (NaNoWriMo isn’t mandatory).
  19. You won’t regret this decision (you can’t regret pure bliss).
  20. You may want to try it again next year (yes, again!)
  21. You can tell your grandchildren about this (some bedtime story that’ll be).
  22. You might come to understand its awesomeness (yay!).

Have you read 22 Reasons You Should Not Participate In NaNoWriMo?

Writing

Rewards vs Sacrifices of Participating in NaNoWriMo

Herminia Chow5 Comments

Since NaNoWriMo is starting soon, I wanted to give everyone a taste of what to expect.

Reward: Pride (sense of accomplishment)

Imagine how you’ll feel after you type up the last word following 49,999 words of incoherent nonsense. Imagine proclaiming to the world you wrote a “novel” (I’m using the term loosely) in a month. That’s something to brag about to all your friends (and enemies). Who knows maybe your future children or grandchildren too. And nothing in this world rivals the feeling of setting a goal as well as accomplishing it.

Sacrifice: Time (lack of it)

Learning to prioritize is crucial when you commit to writing every day. Wait, you aren’t thinking of writing 10,000 words in 5 days are you? On top of what you do every day, whether you’re a student going to school or a mother of two, you’ll need to squeeze in a chunk of your day for NaNoWriMo. Time is not on your side. I’ll let you in on a secret: time is never on your side. Yet somehow the best novelists manage to sacrifice a quarter of their life slaving away at projects that may or may not be a hit. Regardless, words won’t magically appear on the page—you have to put them there. That’s Writing Tip#110 if you’re keeping track. Don’t give me that look. I’m a writer, not a magician. I can’t be original all the time. Sometimes, you just have to reuse your own content, which ties in beautifully with Writing Tip#109.

Reward: The Experience (of a lifetime)

The experience of NaNoWriMo is like none other. As fun and frustrating as writing can be, National Novel Writing Month intensifies these and other emotions three-fold. The time crunch motivates you (aha, another award) while punishing your brain to churn out more pages (…a sacrifice?) Really this is one of those you-gotta-be-there-moments to understand what I’m babbling about. If nothing else, the experience will improve your writing or as I like to call it “your ability to string together unintelligible gibberish…” Got it?

What? Were you expecting a second sacrifice? Unfortunately, I don’t have another one. That’s a testament to how amazing NaNoWriMo is. If you haven’t attempted it, try it. If you have, kudos to you.

Ready or not, National Novel Writing Month is 19 days away.

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