Thursday, October 15, 2009

On NaNoWriMo '09 and Sharing Our Writing Life

nano_09_red_support_120x90.pngLast year, I made it a point to join NaNoWriMo for the first time. And, although I didn't end up finishing my novel, I'm happy to say that I continued to work on one of those that I started. Yes, I started about three during that month! Eeeps. Anyway, I still love those stories that I started and I hope that I'll get to write and finish them one day.

But yeah, I think part of the problem was that I entered NaNoWriMo last year without planning. I didn't have a story. I didn't have any idea about what I was going to do. So, I got lost in the process.

This year, I wanted to try to join again. However, as I was plotting and planning, I ended up starting to write my current novel about two weeks ago. So, I think that pretty much ruled out NaNo this year. Probably just as well, as I'd be going away for a holiday overseas by the end of November anyway.

At least, I can now say that YES, I AM WRITING! Really writing. It has been a while since I last worked on a novel every single day from start of the idea. So, I'm really glad that I finally found a story that I'm busting to write. So much so that I'm actually dreaming inside my novel some nights. Heh.

Anyway, I've been so excited about working on this project so much that I decided to revamp eWriteLife once again to reflect a new phase of my writing life. For one thing, I wanted to have a place where I can share my writing goals and progress. Although I do have a personal blog, it doesn't seem right to turn it in to a full writing blog (especially since I have eWriteLife!). And instead of starting yet another blog, I thought I might as well use this site. So, yes, even though I do feel a bit scared about the whole idea of sharing my ongoing writing work, I thought it might be a good way for me to stay motivated and accountable. So, other than making this formal announcement in this blog post, I also added a "Scribometer" on this blog's sidebar. There, I hope to share my fiction writing progress. Plus, I'm also hoping I can write about where I am in the process of creating this novel on a regular basis. We'll see how it goes!  

I guess, that's one of the strengths of doing NaNoWriMo. When you have an actual goal, and you make this goal public, and you know you have other people working with you on the same thing, you become more motivated.

And I suppose, even though I'm not able to join NaNo this year, I'm still hoping to have a similar motivation through eWriteLife.

Oh, and since I've been doing a lot of research and I'm keeping a closer watch on the writing and publishing industry again, I started to collect more and more interesting resources again. So, I plan to share those things on a more regular basis with you too. Even just in short posts. I'll start to share snippets of writing prompts again too, whenever possible. Just like I used to.

So, what about you? Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo this year? Are you already working on your book?



1 comment:

  1. I've written 3 books and you can read a scifi thriller every week at http://hipriestess.com/blog I also have a writer's resources page

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