Why is NaNoWriMo So Important to Me?

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    November is the month of NaNoWriMo which, if you've been following this blog for any length of time, have probably heard me talk about. NaNoWriMo stands for "National Novel Writing Month". Every November, hundreds of people across the world try to write 50,000 words of a new novel (or you rebel it and rewrite or edit it like me.)

    I never heard about NaNoWriMo until about five years ago when I picked up this book: 

 


    Until then, I had written the first draft of a discarded novel, wrote a Star Wars fanfiction on an old typewriter and myriads of flash fiction for my siblings. I was a few years out of high school and my love of writing was coming back. In high school I had taken two very rigorous essay writing classes and a SAT prep class where we would discuss grammar for three hours every week. (I'm not even kidding. It was horrible.) After the last class, it was hard for me to pick up a book without analyzing it for errors. 

    I started taking some G.E.D. classes at my local community college. Along with the customary notes I took for class, my mind would often drift. As a result, the margins of my notes usually had bits and pieces of stories in them. I'd go back and look at them fondly, but nothing ever came of them until about 2015 when I found this book.

    By the time I read this book, it was December. NaNoWriMo was already over for the year, but I decided to apply the principle. I had an inkling of an idea that had been brewing in my mind for months that was practically begging me to write it. 

    I wrote 50,000 words in January 2016, but the story wasn't finished. I spent the next three months writing 50k words every month, then took a break so I could concentrate on some algebra classes that demanded my full attention. Finally, I finished the 250k+ first draft of my Harbinger Trilogy  on June 9th, 2018. 

    It's been over two years since I finished that draft thanks to NaNoWriMo techniques. I'm splitting what once was Harbinger into three books, but I would've never been able to finish something this big without a challenge like NaNoWriMo.This is why this challenge is so special to me and why, although I have a ton of school, I'm entering the trenches again this month.

    It's time to Carpe Librum (seize the book) and rewrite it. It's time for NaNoWriMo.

Talk to you all soon!

-Julia Garcia/Arysta Henry

    

    


Comments

  1. Azelyn KleinNovember 6, 2020 at 2:38 PM

    That's so cool that you wrote such a beast of a book thanks to NaNoWriMo! I go back on forth on whether or not I'm going to participate, but this year I needed the extra motivation to finish my already half-finished rough draft. Happy writing!

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    Replies
    1. Arysta Henry November 7, 2020 at 9:21 AM

      Yeah, I oscillated on whether to take part this year too with school, but decided I needed a push to work on rewrites. May your writing be productive! Cheering you on!

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