So I wrote another 50,000 words this August. 50,017 words, to be exact.
This is my third time doing this challenge, the third time I've written a blog like this (if you don't count the Script Frenzy post, of course). By now, I know the NaNoWriMo challenge inside and out. I know those last-minute tips that everyone saves for the very end and I know how frustrating and impatient you can get when you're sitting down writing for too long. I've heard it all, from all of the NaNoWriMo gurus and veterans.
And yet, still, I end up in the same place in the last week.
Every single time I have done this challenge, I have ended up very, very far behind by the time the last stretch has arrived ("the last stretch" is a term for the last seven days of NaNo month). And I'm not even sure why this time because I was all caught up in the first week. It's kind of weird.
But I guess the important thing is that I've learned something, or thought of something that I keep in my foresight (or hindsight), right? Something to do with writing, my imagination, something I'd like to carry with myself for the rest of my life (if I don't forget it all by then). Or, at least, of course, until I stop writing.
What I learned, you say? Well.
I learned (by myself) that there is a little piece of our imagination, a piece of us, that tucks itself in the back of our heads as we grow up. It's that piece of our imagination that helps us to, well, imagine, the most of things. It helped us imagine ourselves as Disney princesses and pirate sailors when we were so small. And when we grow up, when we're old enough, that piece of us hides. It hides and waits.
I believe, now, that writers, the jobs of us writers, are to help others to find this so-called piece of themselves again. I believe that we are supposed to help others find their young selves again between book pages and in audio books, maybe even on a movie screen, as long as the story is being told. Our job is to help them find the little (yet so important) piece of their imagination again.
And, if we're brave enough, try to find our own.
-Dominique
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
NaNoWriMo Nonsense | "Cheat Week"
Word Count: 37,338
Days Left: 5
Okay, so I decided to start making this a blog series. Just because I can.
So, this is the last week of Camp NaNoWriMo and I'm happily going at my own pace. (Haha, just kidding, I procrastinate in the morning, as usual.) I write at a pace of about 5,000 words per day (my parents tell me I can't play Minecraft or the like if I don't write that amount by the time my dad comes home from work). And, of course, I'm doing pretty well until I've missed a day's worth of writing completely. Imagine writing 10,000 words in a day. Yeah, not pretty.
If I didn't write 10,000 words today, I would have to write 15,000 tomorrow. And I had been out with my family the entire day, coming home at about 7:00 at night. And I still wrote the 10,000 words. How, you ask? That's what I'm here to tell you.
I call the last week of any NaNoWriMo event "Cheat Week" because it usually consists of caffeine, desperation, late nights writing, and my friends tempting me to get on Skype for a minute (or sixty) of writing. And of course, that's what usually happens. So I have done my research on the forums of the NaNoWriMo website and have collected a few useful cheats for anyone who is in desperate need of a boost in word count.
Before I continue, use these cheats at your own risk! I only recommend using these if you are seriously desperate and have absolutely no hope for yourself anymore. (Or if you're really lazy, either way works.) I've only used these little cheat tips a few times (including today), but I will leave what you do with them to you.
(Also, these "cheats" aren't against the NaNoWriMo rules. I checked, so don't be too hesitant about them. ^~^)
Days Left: 5
Okay, so I decided to start making this a blog series. Just because I can.
So, this is the last week of Camp NaNoWriMo and I'm happily going at my own pace. (Haha, just kidding, I procrastinate in the morning, as usual.) I write at a pace of about 5,000 words per day (my parents tell me I can't play Minecraft or the like if I don't write that amount by the time my dad comes home from work). And, of course, I'm doing pretty well until I've missed a day's worth of writing completely. Imagine writing 10,000 words in a day. Yeah, not pretty.
If I didn't write 10,000 words today, I would have to write 15,000 tomorrow. And I had been out with my family the entire day, coming home at about 7:00 at night. And I still wrote the 10,000 words. How, you ask? That's what I'm here to tell you.
I call the last week of any NaNoWriMo event "Cheat Week" because it usually consists of caffeine, desperation, late nights writing, and my friends tempting me to get on Skype for a minute (or sixty) of writing. And of course, that's what usually happens. So I have done my research on the forums of the NaNoWriMo website and have collected a few useful cheats for anyone who is in desperate need of a boost in word count.
Before I continue, use these cheats at your own risk! I only recommend using these if you are seriously desperate and have absolutely no hope for yourself anymore. (Or if you're really lazy, either way works.) I've only used these little cheat tips a few times (including today), but I will leave what you do with them to you.
(Also, these "cheats" aren't against the NaNoWriMo rules. I checked, so don't be too hesitant about them. ^~^)
- Use flashbacks. Flashbacks save a whole lot of time. Flashbacks can be written originally or copied from an earlier section of your novel. This is one of my favorite and most useful cheats. They can be from 300 words long to 2,000 words long! It's your choice.
- Use previously written prose in your novel. As long as you have written it, you can have one of your main characters read it aloud or something. Whether it's a Druna fanfiction or a scary story, it doesn't matter! Just put the thing in there and bam! There's another few hundred words (or thousand!) for you.
- Write dream sequences. My own dreams usually don't make sense, and they sure are fun to write down! The fun thing about dreams is that they are seriously random, which makes it very entertaining to write! When writing this, who knows? Maybe it could lead to a plot twist or two!
- When in doubt, ex-ter-minate contractions! (Sorry, I know that was pretty cheesy, but I couldn't resist!) This can add (usually) 300-600 words to your novel. Just paste it in Word and use the Replace feature. It's as easy as that!
That's it for now. Expect more blog posts soon! Wish me luck, and if you're writing a novel this August as well, I hope the little tips helped you!
-Zoe
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
NaNoWriMo Nonsense | Cupcakes vs. Muffins
(( I was desperate, okay? Enjoy this conversation between two of main characters, in which repetition ensues and contractions are completely rejected, copied from the Camp NaNoWrimo novel document of yours truly. ))
Lyra and Maddie exchanged a glance of relief before finishing their breakfast. After a long moment of silence, they began to talk. “Hey, Lyra, what do you think is better? Cupcakes or muffins?” Maddie asked curiously. Lyra raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Uh, why do you want to know, exactly?” Lyra replied, puzzled, as she stuffed a piece of her scrambled eggs in her mouth. Maddie shrugged and did the exact same thing that Lyra had done with her scrambled eggs, chewing it slowly and carefully as she did so.
“I do not know. I just want to. It is a pretty legitimate and debatable topic for a conversation, am I right?” she said, grinning as she ate. Lyra rolled her eyes and continued to eat, completely ignoring her question. “Oh, come on! Please, just answer!” Maddie insisted persistently.
“Cupcakes, I think. Wait, I do not know, I think um, maybe, uh, muffins. Wait, no! I really do not know. Aren’t muffins just cupcakes without all the icing and sprinkles and extra happiness?” Lyra replied, raising an eyebrow at her again.
Maddie looked offended. “Of course they aren’t! That’s terrible! Muffins deserve as much love as cupcakes do, even if they aren’t as exciting and happy looking and all that other jazz. They are amazing! I especially like blueberry muffins, but I think cupcakes are just...better.”
Now, Lyra looked even more offended. Her jaw dropped at her auburn haired friend and she put her fork down loudly on her plate. It made a loud screeching noise as it did so. “Okay, now I am defending the muffin family. Muffins are super duper amazing, like you said, but they are just...they are nicer! They are less messy and they do not have really sticky icing that gets all over your fingers. It gets really annoying when the icing gets on my fingers, too. I know that most people do not really care and just lick the stuff off, but it’s different for me! It’s just a really weird and actually, rather big and extraordinary pet peeve that I have.”
Maddie seemed to stop eating and crossed her arms over her chest, angry at Lyra’s replies. “Even though cupcakes can get really sticky and messy and get all over your fingers, and they can get super crumby and stuff, they are just better tasting in general. The icing makes it nicer and it’s fun to just lick off instead of eating the entire thing. The sprinkles are really fun and delicious. Muffins are a disgrace to the food chain!” She insisted.
“No, they are not! Cupcakes are more of a disgrace to the food chain than muffins are!” Lyra replied stubbornly. “Cupcakes are seriously unhealthy most of the time. They have way too much icing, the sprinkles are overused, and sometimes people put ice cream or pudding or tapioca or something else like that! Muffins are just sort of like...fun, tastier bread! And they are shaped differently! Different shapes are cool!”
Maddie looked disgusted by Lyra’s speech. She ate some of the rest of her breakfast and looked at the thirteen year old girl before her. “How could you say that? Cupcakes may be unhealthy sometimes, but they are seriously amazing and I am pretty sure that I can name at least five people who would prefer cupcakes rather than muffins any time now!”
“Unhealthy sometimes?” Lyra scoffed, rolling her eyes and eating more of her breakfast as well. “They are always unhealthy, if you have not noticed, Madeleine Smith! They are filled with sugar and sprinkles and icing and all that unhealthy stuff that parents usually do not let their children eat too much everyday!”
Maddie only rolled her eyes. “You are just jealous because you know that muffins are not that good, anyway. Muffins are just complete rip offs of cupcakes, you know. They are the boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of cupcakes.”
Lyra finished her breakfast and looked at her, astonished that she would say such a thing. “First of all, muffins are not, at all, boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of cupcakes. They are actually very, very tasty, while cupcakes are boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of muffins.”
Maddie looked at Lyra, with an expression that said are you kidding me? “You have to be kidding me, Lyra. Muffins are boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of cupcakes, and you know it. There is absolutely no possible way that they could be boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of muffins. First of all they aren’t boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty. But whatever. I am done with this conversation. Let’s finish our breakfast now, shall we?”
Lyra and Maddie exchanged a glance of relief before finishing their breakfast. After a long moment of silence, they began to talk. “Hey, Lyra, what do you think is better? Cupcakes or muffins?” Maddie asked curiously. Lyra raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Uh, why do you want to know, exactly?” Lyra replied, puzzled, as she stuffed a piece of her scrambled eggs in her mouth. Maddie shrugged and did the exact same thing that Lyra had done with her scrambled eggs, chewing it slowly and carefully as she did so.
“I do not know. I just want to. It is a pretty legitimate and debatable topic for a conversation, am I right?” she said, grinning as she ate. Lyra rolled her eyes and continued to eat, completely ignoring her question. “Oh, come on! Please, just answer!” Maddie insisted persistently.
“Cupcakes, I think. Wait, I do not know, I think um, maybe, uh, muffins. Wait, no! I really do not know. Aren’t muffins just cupcakes without all the icing and sprinkles and extra happiness?” Lyra replied, raising an eyebrow at her again.
Maddie looked offended. “Of course they aren’t! That’s terrible! Muffins deserve as much love as cupcakes do, even if they aren’t as exciting and happy looking and all that other jazz. They are amazing! I especially like blueberry muffins, but I think cupcakes are just...better.”
Now, Lyra looked even more offended. Her jaw dropped at her auburn haired friend and she put her fork down loudly on her plate. It made a loud screeching noise as it did so. “Okay, now I am defending the muffin family. Muffins are super duper amazing, like you said, but they are just...they are nicer! They are less messy and they do not have really sticky icing that gets all over your fingers. It gets really annoying when the icing gets on my fingers, too. I know that most people do not really care and just lick the stuff off, but it’s different for me! It’s just a really weird and actually, rather big and extraordinary pet peeve that I have.”
Maddie seemed to stop eating and crossed her arms over her chest, angry at Lyra’s replies. “Even though cupcakes can get really sticky and messy and get all over your fingers, and they can get super crumby and stuff, they are just better tasting in general. The icing makes it nicer and it’s fun to just lick off instead of eating the entire thing. The sprinkles are really fun and delicious. Muffins are a disgrace to the food chain!” She insisted.
“No, they are not! Cupcakes are more of a disgrace to the food chain than muffins are!” Lyra replied stubbornly. “Cupcakes are seriously unhealthy most of the time. They have way too much icing, the sprinkles are overused, and sometimes people put ice cream or pudding or tapioca or something else like that! Muffins are just sort of like...fun, tastier bread! And they are shaped differently! Different shapes are cool!”
Maddie looked disgusted by Lyra’s speech. She ate some of the rest of her breakfast and looked at the thirteen year old girl before her. “How could you say that? Cupcakes may be unhealthy sometimes, but they are seriously amazing and I am pretty sure that I can name at least five people who would prefer cupcakes rather than muffins any time now!”
“Unhealthy sometimes?” Lyra scoffed, rolling her eyes and eating more of her breakfast as well. “They are always unhealthy, if you have not noticed, Madeleine Smith! They are filled with sugar and sprinkles and icing and all that unhealthy stuff that parents usually do not let their children eat too much everyday!”
Maddie only rolled her eyes. “You are just jealous because you know that muffins are not that good, anyway. Muffins are just complete rip offs of cupcakes, you know. They are the boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of cupcakes.”
Lyra finished her breakfast and looked at her, astonished that she would say such a thing. “First of all, muffins are not, at all, boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of cupcakes. They are actually very, very tasty, while cupcakes are boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of muffins.”
Maddie looked at Lyra, with an expression that said are you kidding me? “You have to be kidding me, Lyra. Muffins are boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of cupcakes, and you know it. There is absolutely no possible way that they could be boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty versions of muffins. First of all they aren’t boring, dull, monotonous, disgusting, untasty, bland, yucky, unbelievable, bitter, tasteless most of the time, and seriously salty. But whatever. I am done with this conversation. Let’s finish our breakfast now, shall we?”
Friday, July 27, 2012
Pre-Birthday Reflection
Tonight, at exactly 12:00am, I turn 12. Not 12 and a half, not 12 and three quarters, but 12.
And this scares me. It feels like just yesterday, I was walking into my kindergarten class for the first time. And the funny thing is, my three best friends to this day sat at the same table as me, surrounding me, getting to know me. We're all so much older now. I know we all wish to go back to when we were five and role-played Barbie in the recess yard.
It sounds rather dramatic, more dramatic than it really is, but 12 is a big thing for me. I've been told that when I turn 12, I can ride shotgun by my parents' side (which has been moved to 13 by now). I've been told that when I turn 12, we'll have flying cars and robotic pets that can talk to us. I've been told that when I turn 12, I'll be all grown up, near entering high school, be almost as tall as my mother and gain even more potential than I previously had.
Only one of those statements turned out, surprisingly, to be true.
Of course, we haven't developed the technology to have flying cars and robotic pets that talk to us, and I'm still not allowed to ride shotgun (and frankly, I'm okay with it). But my joyride from 11 to where I am now was a roller coaster, I can tell you that.
In these 364 days that I've been 11 years old, I've done and learnt so much. My life has turned upside down then right back up. One of my best friends moved to the other side of the globe (Thea, I know you're reading this, so hi), and the other went to another school. I participated in my first-ever middle school play and met some pretty amazing friends (Adam and Andrew, if you're reading this, I'm talking to you!) and some pretty obnoxious people as well.
I've gotten closer to one of my friends since birth (Tyler) through a miracle of a program called Skype. We Skype nearly every day now, and he's introduced me to some truly amazing people that I couldn't live without (Jordan, Christian, Garrett, Taylor, David, Matthew, Justin). I have video parties every week with one of them (Taylor), called (whether video or audio only) almost every day with another (Garrett), fan-girled over Doctor Who for months with Christian, talked about the excitement of Bronycon with David, found out about some pretty weird expressions with Matthew and Justin, and discussed the adorableness of kittens with Jordan.
I don't know what I would be now without them.
I introduced Tyler to Doctor Who and Bronyfied at least eight people I know. I obsessed over Legend of Korra for a period of time before forgetting to watch the rest of the series (which I regret, Thea, thank you very much). I finally made a FanFiction account (they let you make one if you have a Twitter account!) and wrote a MLP:FiM fanfiction that made strangers cry.
I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time, as well as Camp NaNoWriMo (June) 2012. I finished writing one book and got it published on the Kindle for fun. The other one I hope to do the same, but it will be (most likely) finished when I'm 12. I participated in Script Frenzy 2012 (the very last official year of Screnzy) and hope to continue next April, even if the official challenge online is taken down.
I made a gaming channel on YouTube with my friends and we've gotten to 5,000+ total video views, and 30+ subscribers. I started uploading to my own YouTube channel around a month ago and already have 11 subscribers and 4,000+ views. I've found recording and editing videos to be a fun hobby of mine.
I got into the computer club and video crew at my school, and assisted the faculty and staff for a short time. I was able to earn my way into the honor roll once more and my average grade hit 97% (and 98% is the highest you can get!). I had an amazing ELA teacher, who loved Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and Jane Austen. I had a hilarious and super-nice math teacher for homeroom, and there was never a boring moment.
And I may or may not have new interests, too.
Favorite Song: A Little Irony by Tom Milsom
Favorite Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Favorite Animated Movie: Brave from Pixar
Favorite Real-Life Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Pt 1)
Favorite Female Celebrities: Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange)
Favorite Male Celebrities: Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)
Favorite Candy: Sour Patch Bunnies
Favorite Food: Macaroni and cheese
I feel I've changed, and I will be changing even more. But it's better to think in the present sometimes than plan the future.
-Dom
Saturday, June 30, 2012
It's complicated.
I won Camp NaNoWriMo! (Sort of.)
....this blog post started off completely anticlimactically for me. I had this whole theme set for it about writing to my past self (see my last blog post), but I can't really do that. It's complicated.
So let me start from the beginning. You might want to grab a cup of hot cocoa (or freezing cold lemonade if you have sweltering hot weather like I do) and pull over a chair because, my friend, this story is going to be very, very long. (Okay, fine. You caught me. I'm exaggerating. But still, it's pretty long.)
I started at the beginning of the month writing with my friend. I had written over 5,000 words in the first week and was extremely proud of myself. But then, she had to quit and I decided to start from scratch (we thought of the plot together and I wanted to be fair).
I was so behind. I procrastinated (because I'm the world's biggest procrastinator) with YouTube, Twitter, the YWP NaNoWriMo forums, Doctor Who, Goodreads, my summer reading projects (that was actually a rather productive kind of procrastination), Skype, Minecraft...
What? You want me to stop listing everything I procrastinated with? You get it? Oh, alright. Just for you, blog reader, just for you.
There were just so many things to procrastinate with! And, when I finally got some work done, I'd take a five minute break and end up playing Minecraft for three hours. Are you face-palming? Don't tell me that you're face-palming! No! Don't click on the X! Not the X! Don't click away, please! Don't lose hope yet?
*dramatic sigh* Okay. You get it. I'm really bad at keeping track of my time sometimes. I started to pull apart my inner procrastinator. I killed it slowly by sitting in front of my netbook, sitting in the big, black, leather, reclining, soothing (fine, I'll get to the point) spinny chair in my living room and writing. I had a whole list of tools: WriteOrDie, MyTomatoes, SimplyNoise, the word sprints from @JuNoWriMo, and previous pep talks from the YWP NaNoWriMo archive.
Since I'm not old enough to join the official Camp NaNoWriMo website and have to wait until next year, I joined the JuNoWriMo website. It was created before Camp NaNo started for people who wanted to do NaNoWriMo over the summer. There, I looked at the blogs and the spreadsheet of everyone's progress. It was great.
I was seriously organized. I made myself pacing charts to keep myself on track, a list of tips, tricks, and plot ninjas, and remembered to bring my writing journal everywhere so that I could write in my free time. Everyone was going awesome!
Then, everything went downhill.
Nearly an hour ago, the clock struck midnight and I only had 46,000 words. I was devastated. I was completely disappointed in myself, and then I realized: Wait, what about that first 5,000 that I didn't include? I was seriously confused for a moment. I kept asking myself, Did I win? Did I win? And so I looked on the NaNoWriMo website for the rules.
The rules specifically state you have to start from scratch, and cannot use any previously written prose from before November 1 (or, in this case, June 1) as part of your novel. It needs to be original (you have to have written it on your own) and you must have written at least 50,000 words (or, in YWP NaNoWriMo, your personally set goal) by November 30 (June 30) in order to win.
Started from scratch? Check.
Didn't use a previously written prose? Check.
Original? Check.
Wrote, in total, at least 50,000 words by the end of the month? Check.
The only problem is, I don't feel the same spark that I did when I won last year. Maybe it's because I doubted myself. (Or because I didn't have the thrill of watching my stats on the NaNo website...age requirements, schmage requirements...) Because there wasn't a YWP Camp NaNoWriMo website, I lost the thrill of many things, such as the pep talks and the weekly blogs and the certificates and the online badge. Oh, the online badge. It made me glow with pride. I managed to find one online for me to save, though. I also got the JuNoWriMo badge.
tl;dr: I won Camp NaNoWriMo. Eh, it's complicated.
-Dominique
....this blog post started off completely anticlimactically for me. I had this whole theme set for it about writing to my past self (see my last blog post), but I can't really do that. It's complicated.
So let me start from the beginning. You might want to grab a cup of hot cocoa (or freezing cold lemonade if you have sweltering hot weather like I do) and pull over a chair because, my friend, this story is going to be very, very long. (Okay, fine. You caught me. I'm exaggerating. But still, it's pretty long.)
I started at the beginning of the month writing with my friend. I had written over 5,000 words in the first week and was extremely proud of myself. But then, she had to quit and I decided to start from scratch (we thought of the plot together and I wanted to be fair).
I was so behind. I procrastinated (because I'm the world's biggest procrastinator) with YouTube, Twitter, the YWP NaNoWriMo forums, Doctor Who, Goodreads, my summer reading projects (that was actually a rather productive kind of procrastination), Skype, Minecraft...
What? You want me to stop listing everything I procrastinated with? You get it? Oh, alright. Just for you, blog reader, just for you.
There were just so many things to procrastinate with! And, when I finally got some work done, I'd take a five minute break and end up playing Minecraft for three hours. Are you face-palming? Don't tell me that you're face-palming! No! Don't click on the X! Not the X! Don't click away, please! Don't lose hope yet?
*dramatic sigh* Okay. You get it. I'm really bad at keeping track of my time sometimes. I started to pull apart my inner procrastinator. I killed it slowly by sitting in front of my netbook, sitting in the big, black, leather, reclining, soothing (fine, I'll get to the point) spinny chair in my living room and writing. I had a whole list of tools: WriteOrDie, MyTomatoes, SimplyNoise, the word sprints from @JuNoWriMo, and previous pep talks from the YWP NaNoWriMo archive.
Since I'm not old enough to join the official Camp NaNoWriMo website and have to wait until next year, I joined the JuNoWriMo website. It was created before Camp NaNo started for people who wanted to do NaNoWriMo over the summer. There, I looked at the blogs and the spreadsheet of everyone's progress. It was great.
I was seriously organized. I made myself pacing charts to keep myself on track, a list of tips, tricks, and plot ninjas, and remembered to bring my writing journal everywhere so that I could write in my free time. Everyone was going awesome!
Then, everything went downhill.
Nearly an hour ago, the clock struck midnight and I only had 46,000 words. I was devastated. I was completely disappointed in myself, and then I realized: Wait, what about that first 5,000 that I didn't include? I was seriously confused for a moment. I kept asking myself, Did I win? Did I win? And so I looked on the NaNoWriMo website for the rules.
The rules specifically state you have to start from scratch, and cannot use any previously written prose from before November 1 (or, in this case, June 1) as part of your novel. It needs to be original (you have to have written it on your own) and you must have written at least 50,000 words (or, in YWP NaNoWriMo, your personally set goal) by November 30 (June 30) in order to win.
Started from scratch? Check.
Didn't use a previously written prose? Check.
Original? Check.
Wrote, in total, at least 50,000 words by the end of the month? Check.
The only problem is, I don't feel the same spark that I did when I won last year. Maybe it's because I doubted myself. (Or because I didn't have the thrill of watching my stats on the NaNo website...age requirements, schmage requirements...) Because there wasn't a YWP Camp NaNoWriMo website, I lost the thrill of many things, such as the pep talks and the weekly blogs and the certificates and the online badge. Oh, the online badge. It made me glow with pride. I managed to find one online for me to save, though. I also got the JuNoWriMo badge.
tl;dr: I won Camp NaNoWriMo. Eh, it's complicated.
-Dominique
Thursday, June 28, 2012
To my future self.
Dear Future Self,
Hello. This is your past self. This is your procrastinating, absent minded, disgustingly lazy and low self-esteemed self. And I hate myself for that. I hate that I may have, possibly, disappointed you. I hate that you may look back at me and frown angrily and kick your computer and stomp on the floor and cry into a pillow or whatever you might do when you're frustrated. If you do look back at me with repentance and wish that I could have committed more to my Camp NaNo novel this month, I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I had you lose, and most likely make you so disappointed that you forget about August, or even September completely.
Or, I might make you smile.
I might make you smile so hard that you just fall out of your seat out of happiness. I might make you think, It was totally worth it. I might make you jump up and do a happy dance, not to mention that all of your friends are listening to your screaming on Skype. I might make you do hip swivels and make you run up and down the stairs without anything but your finished 50,000 words on your mind.
And I sure hope that it goes down that path.
Whatever it is that happens on that night of either glory or disappointment, I have one word of advice for you before that midnight strikes on the clock at you either break down out of sadness or smile like you've never smiled before:
Write.
Yours truly,
-Past Self
Hello. This is your past self. This is your procrastinating, absent minded, disgustingly lazy and low self-esteemed self. And I hate myself for that. I hate that I may have, possibly, disappointed you. I hate that you may look back at me and frown angrily and kick your computer and stomp on the floor and cry into a pillow or whatever you might do when you're frustrated. If you do look back at me with repentance and wish that I could have committed more to my Camp NaNo novel this month, I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I had you lose, and most likely make you so disappointed that you forget about August, or even September completely.
Or, I might make you smile.
I might make you smile so hard that you just fall out of your seat out of happiness. I might make you think, It was totally worth it. I might make you jump up and do a happy dance, not to mention that all of your friends are listening to your screaming on Skype. I might make you do hip swivels and make you run up and down the stairs without anything but your finished 50,000 words on your mind.
And I sure hope that it goes down that path.
Whatever it is that happens on that night of either glory or disappointment, I have one word of advice for you before that midnight strikes on the clock at you either break down out of sadness or smile like you've never smiled before:
Write.
Yours truly,
-Past Self
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Today went well, so what's wrong?
I found my wallet.
I found my library book.
I found a star in two of my Snapple caps today (for their promo).
I got a Chipotle quesadilla.
I went to the pool with my best friend.
I got special prescription goggles.
I finally got enough sleep.
So what's wrong?
I'VE ONLY JUST HIT 10,000 WORDS FOR MY CAMP NANO NOVEL, THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-From your stressed out and completely demotivated Zoe.
I found my library book.
I found a star in two of my Snapple caps today (for their promo).
I got a Chipotle quesadilla.
I went to the pool with my best friend.
I got special prescription goggles.
I finally got enough sleep.
So what's wrong?
I'VE ONLY JUST HIT 10,000 WORDS FOR MY CAMP NANO NOVEL, THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-From your stressed out and completely demotivated Zoe.
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