NaNoWriMo

I have never finished a piece of my writing. Never. Ever. Ever.

Once an idea pops into my head, no matter how big or small it is, I will write it down because I can't bear the thought of losing those precious gems that could one day become the next best-selling novel. And as soon as those ideas are down, they begin fleshing themselves out. The characters find their names, their agendas and powers, if any. This leads to the start of the plot, so I dive straight into it without planning or outlining.

At first, it's great. Words flow from my pen. Jubilation bubbles in my stomach, make me giggly and full of pride because I'm convinced I'm writing the next bestseller. But tragedy always strikes. My brain falls flat and my pen stops moving. I don't how how to move the plot forward in a believable way and the characters, which seemed so life-like at first, appear stale and two dimensional. I'm crushed because I invested so much time on it.

Then I get another seed of an idea, abandon all previous engagements and the cycle starts again.

So if I'm dreadful at finishing novels, why am I doing NaNoWriMo this year?

Because I'm on a deadline and there's a monumental goal to reach: 50,000 words by the end of the month. I assure you I've never written on this scale so I'm trying my hardest to stay on top of the word goal and I'm wasting away, what with being deprived of sunlight and familial warmth.

On the bright side, I didn't dive into NaNoWriMo without preparation. In October, I wrote paragraphs of what I thought should happen in my novel. Ideas formed, collided and propagated. Paragraphs turned into scenes and scenes turned into an outline of 16,000 words. I know where my story goes and I know how to get there. I've been keeping up with my schedule and I've never felt happier.

I know I have the potential to write a novel and I'm doing NaNoWriMo to prove to myself that I can finish a novel. Right now, it's looking good :)