Nanowrimo : I tried, I failed, so, what ?

 Nowadays, Nanowrimo is more than a website, it’s an institution for everyone wanting to test their writing abilities, in, well, no time. The goal, for those of you who haven’t read of it : writing a novel in 30 days. Well, a modest one of 50k, but you wouldn’t realize how much time it takes to do it. November the 1st, at midnight, fellow writers from all around the world reunite behind their computers and start writing. Many of them have their whole story already planned out; others are just blindly feeling their way into their story.

My experience? Let’s get up close and personal, now. Well, not too much. I decided to try it out for myself, and, let me tell you, it is HARD. Some ideas were floating in my head, main themes mostly, and shapes of characters without real names or faces. The hardest of all is probably starting the story. Everyone always has so much to do, and it is hard to get into it, to shape the start of your own world. The words are stuck, the ideas are here, but the start isn’t. It took me two whole weeks to get started. And, as far as Nanowrimo goes, it is, well, bad. Since you have to write an amount of 1 660 words a day to reach the end goal ; I was, screwed already. But I didn’t really care. Once I wrote the first words of my prologue, I saw the beginning of my story shaping. In between notes, ideas of themes and chapters ending, I ended up the month by writing 5000 words. Ten times less than I was supposed to.

Despite my lack of victory at reaching the 50k goal ; I am proud. Nanowrimo allowed me to finally write down ideas that were going on in my mind for quite a while. Holding down a schedule for writing every day was hard, maybe too hard for me during this november ; and even if you inhabit your story, some days, you can’t force yourself to write -well, I can’t. And, honestly, cutting yourself off a few hours from the internet is really, almost impossible. But it’s an adventure. I tried, I failed, but I learned about my writing skills, and wants. I know I didn’t do as expected, but I will keep on writing; and see where this leads me. And I’ll see you next year, Nanowrimo!

My advice? DO IT. If you never try, you’ll never know, right? Nanowrimo may be introduced as a kind of game, but there are no winners and losers. In the end, writing 5000 words or 50 000 doesn’t matter : you write, so you win. You can think about it, re-write, leave it on hold ’til next november, or ’til the next camp nanowrimo. Or, like me, you can try to write on a regular basis, well, as regular as you can. And pursue the adventure by yourself. After all, these are your words, and you can do what you want with it.

 Interested? Go ahead on the Nanowrimo website to get all the info you need, and may the words be with you!