(Almost) Time for NaNoWriMo!

In November it is NaNoWriMo! I am going to be participating for the first time and I’m really excited. I’m almost finished university (and graduate in December!) and have most of November to WRITE! Well, I start a new job in the last week, but I still have heaps of time. Luckily my last assignment for uni is due on 31 October, so this is perfect timing!

About NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is an opportunity for writers to write a novel. The goal is to reach 50,000 words, or any other word goal, and if you do, then you “win” NaNoWriMo. It runs from 1-30 November and you can sign up on nanowrimo.org. My username is CharlotteAnnelise97, so feel free to add me (if that’s even possible).

My WIP

For the past few months I’ve been planning and thinking about (mostly thinking) my WIP. My plan is 3,423 words and I’ve also written 3,219 words of the actual story, so a little over the first chapter.

Goals

Over the thirty days I plan to write at least 25,000 words.

Each day I plan to write at least 1,000 words.

Questions About My WIP

Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In run Beautiful Books, where they post 10 questions for writers working on novels to answer questions about their WIP (work in progress). So here are the answers about my NaNoWriMo project!

1. What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

I have a really awful memory and I cannot actually remember what inspired it! It could have been because earlier in the year I was thinking of ideas for a short story assignment, and thought of this one, but didn’t use it because the idea was more suited for a novel. So I have had the idea since about April 2017.

2. Describe what your novel is about!

Briefly, it is about a girl between the ages of 19-25. There will be seven parts to the novel, and each part will cover a different year of her life. The plot is a little ambiguous right now and I need to figure out a good three-act structure. But I’m more of a PANTSER*!

*Plotter: You think of a plan before writing. Pantser: You just go for it.

3. What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like!

Sidenote: I used a photo of the university I go to because all the universities I searched for look very fancy and pretty, and there’s not really any that look like those in Melbourne.

4. Introduce us to each of your characters!

MC: MC is the main character (lol). MC is an introvert and is struggling to find her place in the world. At the beginning of the novel she is a student. She goes through many life-changing things during the seven years and grows quite a lot. She has a sarcastic sense of humour and tends to dwell on the past. She lives in the city of Melbourne with her mother and older sister.

BF: BF is MC’s best friend. He is outgoing and works as a carpenter (or some kind of trade IDK). MC and BF have known each other since high school, but when BF dropped out in Year 12, they started to drift apart. However, they eventually reunite.

Other characters include: love interest #1, mother, sister, father, friend #2, friend #3, love interest #2, and love interest #3 (yes there will be three, the novel goes over seven years, okay!).

5. How do you prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)

I have already done an outline that is approximately 3,000 words. I should probably do research, but I thought I would cross that bridge when I come to it (i.e. I’m lazy). I’ll be stocking up on vegan chocolate too (I like mint dark chocolate).

6. What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

I am looking forward to writing the happy/fluffy scenes. Those are my favourite kind of scenes to write. There will also be a sad moment in it and I’ve never written something like that before, so I’m not excited about that.

7. List 3 things about your novel’s setting.

House: MC’s house is in the city of Melbourne. I live in Melbourne but not actually in the city if you know what I mean. I live forty minutes away, whereas MC will be right there. I have some cousins who live in the city and the houses there are really shit (no offence fam), so she is going to live in a really old, Melburnian-esque house.

Europe: MC is going to go travelling at one point, so she will spend a lot of time overseas (I haven’t figured it the country yet).

University: MC will study at university, so there will be a lot about her life there.

8. What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way?

I’m still thinking about this question and I’m not really willing to answer it, but I do have an idea!

9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

In many ways MC changes! Her output on life is different compared to in the beginning.

10. What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

The book’s main theme is coming of age. This will hopefully make readers realise that looking toward the future sometimes makes you strive for something unattainable and you should instead live in the present.

Another Project

I will also have to write a short story that is a sequel to another short story I had published earlier in the year. I guess I’ll add that to the word count, though short stories take me three times as long to write compared to novel-length projects. Not in terms of length, but how long it takes me to write 1,000 words because for short stories I have to think a lot more. Also the amount of time has passed since I wrote the first story that if I were to look back on it I think I would cringe a lot.

Updates

I’ll be updating my progress once a week on my blog! I’ll also be updating my twitter most likely daily, so check that out if you want to.

Thread for my NaNoWriMo progress! 📝 pic.twitter.com/LGAMZvdoyQ

— Charlotte Annelise (@charannelise) October 24, 2017

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• Okay, those questions were deep and I cannot believe I have actually shared them with you! PLEASE let me know if you are doing NaNoWriMo too!