Write a book, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
Well, I’ve been working on this book for six years now. I’ve written three drafts, and roughly 300,000 words. On Oct. 28, 2009, I decided I wanted to write a book, so I did. I worked on it every spare moment I could. I brought that notebook with me everywhere. I worked so hard on it, and I put so much effort in to it. It was the worst thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
I still have that notebook at home, hidden between folders full of old drawings and awards from middle and high school. Part of the reason I kept it is sentimentality. The main reason is because I feel like the only acceptable way to rid this world of that draft is to burn it, and I haven’t had the means to do so yet.
Fast forward two years. I’m halfway through book number two in this terrible series. I’m in eleventh grade, and at some point, someone introduced me to the idea of NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. All I knew at the time was the name. The work it would require for me to complete this challenge didn’t even occur to me. By all means, I was hooked.
NaNoWriMo takes place through all of November. You have 30 days to write 50,000 words. Ideally, you need to get 1,667 words a day to finish on time. 1,667 words does not seem like a lot, not at first glance. It’s different though, when you have to actually put those words to paper. At this point in time, I was in the middle of reevaluating my series, so what I ended up doing was creating a whole new story, a whole new brigade of characters. And it worked. Heavens, it was difficult. November doesn’t just become the National Novel Writing Month. November becomes No Shave November, No Sleep November, and No Social Life November as well. I would say No Swear November, because that’s a popular thing, but that would be a massive lie.
I was doing fine at first. In fact, I was ahead of my word count goal for the first seven days. I started slipping after that. Every few days I would jump ahead and catch up again. Then, I started to not be able to catch up. I was getting overwhelmed and no matter how much encouragement I got from my writing buddies, I wasn’t going to make it. On day 23, I was almost 4,000 words behind. It was Thanksgiving break, and I was determined. I was alive with a new sense of passion for this story. On day 24, I sat down at my desk and cranked out 6,000 words. I hit my final word count of 50,063 words on day 26. Below are the statistics for my first attempt at this challenge.
That novel hasn’t been touched since January 2012. I missed the characters I created for my first story, and I needed to return to them. That was the story that I wanted to complete. If one day I was going to be published, that was the book that was going up first. It’s my baby.
Over the years, I’ve attempted the November NaNoWriMo challenge two more times. I’ve attempted the summer versions – Camp NaNoWriMo – a number of times. I’ve met so many incredible people in these last four years because of NaNoWriMo. The unofficial group on Facebook has over 20,000 members who are always up for helping you. If you need to be encouraged, they’ll encourage you. If you have a question, they will answer anything you ask them. Someone will always have the answer that you are looking for.
Two books come to mind when I think about what I might one day achieve. "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen was written during NaNoWriMo, and was successful enough to spawn a movie starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. "Anna and the French Kiss" Stephanie Perkins was also written during this challenge in 2010, and since then, become a part of a successful trilogy, each book receiving a 4 our of 5 star review on Goodreads.
Since that day on Oct. 28, 2009, I’ve never stopped writing. I’ve stopped drawing, I’ve stopped having free time to read, but I have never stopped writing. In the margins of my papers, on sticky notes and on napkins. Until recently, I still brought a notebook with me wherever I went. Now, most of my writing is done on this laptop. I created these characters, and I’ve stuck with them for so long that they feel like real people to me, they feel like friends, and one day I will let the world know who they are. At this point, we all deserve it.
I’ve been working on this book for six years now. All I can say is: what a long strange trip it’s been.
