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Young Writers Society


My NaNoWriMo Alternative



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Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:11 am
Lefty says...



NaNoWriMo is quickly approaching. Thousands of writers are preparing… Outlining, brainstorming, developing characters, stocking up on canned soups and coffee and barricading their bedroom doors… November is National Novel Writing Month.

I’m sure everyone hopes to get something different out of NaNoWriMo. Some do it to write a novel or to say they were able to write a book in a single month, others may do it simply for the fun of it or for the challenge of it. But if you don’t become a better writer during the process, then your staying in the same place. You’re not growing as a writer. So I believe that part of NaNoWriMo should be about improving. If you didn't would the time and work be worth it?

But what if you don’t have time to write a novel in a month or are simply already working on one that you don’t want to set aside? Maybe you wanted to participate, but it’s just not going to work out this year. Maybe you feel a little disappointed or excluded because of it… If that’s the case, I have a wonderful solution for you…

November should be National Writers Month. It should be about the writers, not the novels. It should be about the joy and magic of writing, about improving your abilities and bettering yourself as a writer. So I have come up with a wonderful way to write everyday, no matter how little time you have, a way to better yourself as a writer over the entire month of November and to be able to explore all corners of your writing world, possibilities and potential. And if you’ve got writers block or writers burnout, this might help with that as well. So what is it then? Well…

Every single day of November, I’m going to find a picture that inspires me ranging from a holiday to a person, a futuristic drawing to a fairy, a rock in a stream to a kitten in a basket, anything that peaks my interest and use it as a writing prompt. Once I choose it, I’m going to start writing about it. Maybe I will just describe the picture in my own words, or (attempt) to write a poem about it, I could write a short story about it or just a scene that comes to mind that could technically be added onto later… But the point is that it can be anything. It could be great writing, or just awful. It could be out there or weird or different from how I normally write. I normally write in first person, so maybe I’ll try third person. I also tend to write YA, so perhaps I’ll try something more grown up, or a children’s story. I’m not going to worry about how it comes out, or if it’s any good. My minimum word count will probably be a hundred words. That’s it. If it only comes out as a paragraph, so be it. Or if it turns out to be a ten thousand word short story, wonderful. Maybe by the end of it I will have started a couple of story ideas I hadn’t thought of before that I will look into exploring more. But most of all, I will be going outside my comfort zone, trying new things, learning new things and bettering myself as a writer. Something new and different everyday and not caring what people think.

Growing, trying new things and new ideas. Inspiration, motivation, passion, breaking down those walls that keep you from truly writing from your heart. Be creative. Be different. November is a wonderful time for writing too. Hoodies and sweaters, curling up on the couch with a warm blanket, hot cocoa or tea. The Christmas season is approaching but hasn’t arrived quite yet. It’s the perfect time to curl up on your bed with your notebook or laptop, a delicious hot drink beside you (and preferably a cat) and just write. Write what you feel. Write what you want. Write anything. Write everything.

So I give you, the November Writing Project. It’s an experiment, which I have high hopes for. If this sounds interesting to you, and you’re not able to do NaNoWriMo (or simply don’t want to), maybe give this a try. I will be posting my daily projects on my blog. Feel free to use the images I post everyday, or find your own. Everyone has different interests and pulls inspiration from different things, so I completely understand if you don’t get the fascination with the pictures I end up using. I feel that way a lot of the time when I see writing prompt pictures. Pinterest is a wonderful site for finding pictures of all varieties, so that’s a great place to start. Start a blog, find a picture, and just write. No obligations, no stress, and as much freedom as you give yourself. So have fun! And happy National Writers Month!

-Lefty
Last edited by Lefty on Thu Mar 03, 2016 12:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hear me out, there's so much more to life than what you're feeling now. Someday you'll look back on all these days, and all this pain is gonna be invisible. - Hunter Hayes
  





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Sun Nov 02, 2014 11:42 pm
amidnightdreary says...



I think this is a great idea. I'm definitely worried about hitting the 50,000 word mark, but at the same time I can step back and see how silly it is for me to force WRITING, to force one of the most difficult arts to just magically happen.

So while I'm striving for 50,000, I'm also being realistic. My personal goal is to just finish the skeleton of the story this month, to have at least made it somewhere through the middle and have the end in sight.
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."
- Banksy
  








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