NaNoWriMo is Go!

Hello friends!

I apologize for my absence but there has been so much happening! Biggest (most relevant) news: I decided to take on the 50K word challenge known as NaNoWriMo! I will be working on my novel all month as well as fundraising for the amazing non-profit that supports writers and young writer’s programs. You can help me raise $300 for NaNoWriMo by going to my FB fundraiser! Any amount ($5 and up) helps and is greatly appreciated!

Doing the NaNoWriMo!

It is Day 5 of the challenge and I have had some struggles. I have also had amazing support which I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t decided to announce my novel writing adventure early on. Here’s a quick rundown on my top struggles this week:

• I’m going to fail!! 

Night before NaNo, the negative voice in my head that tries to protect me from doing difficult things was telling me I am going to fail. I had been mentally prepping for weeks but now it was time to get to the writing and every bit of creativity and motivation was slipping away and being replaced with doubt. But I overcame! The only way to fail this is not trying and I promised myself to try everyday no matter what. So I have tried everyday and have been able to get a little bit closer to my goal.

• I have nothing to write.

Telling myself I have nothing to write has been the biggest struggle and honestly the biggest lie. I have this story in me and it reveals itself to me in bits and pieces everyday. I just need to be patient and trust my brain. Also having awesome friends that send me amazing texts telling me I can do it helps lots and lots! I am beyond grateful for them!

• This is all crap!

Going back to the idea of just trying. I have written some awful stuff this week. But that’s not what’s important right now. The fact that I am writing and getting story out is important and can be fixed and polished and all that jazz later on. So right now I am allowing myself to write crap and move on from it. My goal is 50K words! Not excellent beautiful flawless prose. Just get the words on the page!

• I don’t know what I’m talking about

I keep running into roadblocks and thinking I need to do more research. I feel like I can’t keep writing without knowing a particular fact, but this is just another way for my brain to resist! I am fighting this resistance by jotting down notes for later reference so that I can keep writing. Again having awesome friends assure me I do in fact know what I am doing is incredible.

Are you doing NaNo? What have your struggles been? How are you persevering? Do you need a Writing Buddy? Tell me about it in the comments!