A Need to NaNo

[writerfangirl]

Since before D*Con, I have felt a need to write. I haven't answered the call, but now the sensation is simply overwhelming. NaNoWriMo is coming and I want to be pumped for it. I want to be writing from now until then. In previous years, I had difficulty with going into NaNo because I wasn't prepared. I wasn't used to writing the breath necessary, in addition to the work I was already doing for classes. Last year, I finally actually did participate and I made the 50,000 word mark. What helped immensely was having character cards for every char. On these cards I had the following: history, personality, appearance, what does this character want. These questions, more than others, are important to have a grasp of (especially what does a character want) before jumping headlong into writing. If you don't know what your character's main motiviation is, you may have diffiulties with finding your story.

I have a good twenty stories that I want to tell and have tried to tell before, but something about them have held me back. It's my own insecurities. I have this feeling that what I'm writing is crap and nobody wants to read it. :( The feeling totally goes against everything I stand for and believe, and yet, I let it get me down. Well no longer. I flew on a plane despite having terrible anxiety about it, despite having a difficult time with putting my security in somebody else's hands. I can do this. Writing is a bigger bullet to bite, though, because it's about self-expression. I don't think I feel, even now, like I know what I'm doing. I know the elements that go into a story, how the plot functions, but to write it is something else entirely. Writing is something that I must do. Can't talk about it, or think about it, but throw myself into it. When I was exercising the writing muscle during last year's NaNo, I was getting new ideas, and was feeling a thrill I hadn't felt since I was working on my senior thesis. Working toward a completion of something in writing makes me feel good.

Between now and NaNo, I'm going to work on completing the 99 prompts which still remain for stargatefic100. Time to dig up the prompts I've started on and finish them.

Comments

[brokenbacktango.livejournal.com]

Hell yeah! You go girl :)

That second paragraph... wow, it feels like you reached into my gray matter and copy-and-pasted it right into your journal (except the senior thesis thing, because I am still a college n00b). I understand that feeling intimately. Want to try the NaNoWriMo thing together again this year? I hope this year to embrace my stories' crappiness.

[writerfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

Wow, really? Wicked. We seem to be on the same wavelength right now. Totally kickass. :) I had lots of fun writing with you last year. We must do it often and regularly this year. Heh. And not have any scary encounters with the Victoria Gardens bathrooms. *L*

Don't think about what the story is, just write. If it's crappy, just think about how you can fix it later. :) Writing and getting something on paper or computer is essentially what NaNo is all about. Have you read the book yet? I think I may reread mine. I also think I'll be checking out some books on prompts. I have quite a few, including the 3 AM Epiphany. I love the title of that one.

You're not a complete n00b any longer: you're a sophomore in college now! :D Second year! Woohoo! How was your first week? I started today. Should have started yesterday, but I was taking a day off after my return to Cali at 11PM on the previous night. OMG. Great flight, though. I sat next to a guy during the last leg of the flight (from Phoenix to Ontario) who is a consultant on Homeland Security...in Riverside. WTF must have been all over my face at that point.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

That's a good idea - the notecards. I tend to keep that stuff in my head, or if I write it down, can't find the notes!

This year I'm looking forward to it because both my kids are in school until 2:40, and I'll actually have some *peace* and TIME to write in!