It is that month of the year again... the month in which many writers take on the challenge of completing a novel (or 50000 words) in a single month. It's NaNoWriMo! I only discovered NaNoWriMo last March, when camp NaNo was going. The same challenge only called Camp NaNoWriMo. Writing a novel is on top of my goals list. It has been for a while now. But now is sadly not the time for me to chase this goal. In today's post, I want to talk about why this is the case and I want to discuss NaNo.
Because I discovered NaNoWriMo last March, I discovered the world of author-tube. And also one of my favourite YouTubers at the moment: Kate Cavanaugh. Watching her writing vlogs gives me hope that I might be able to do this too in my future. Making a living from my writing and thus having the freedom to work on what I want to work on.
By discovering Authortube I also discovered writing sprints. Since March I have participated in many livestreams and I find it so fun to connect with other writers. I do not often write fiction during these streams, but more blog posts or schoolwork. Whatever I am working on. Seeing so many other people during these streams being passionate about books and writing really makes me happy.
Currently, I have a very busy schedule. I am a full-time student, I also work a part-time job for around 15 hours a week, and I live on my own, which means that I need to cook and do housework too. I can tell you, weeks go very fast and my days are always filled. When about a month ago the Dutch government announced that all cafés and restaurants needed to close because of Covid-19, I thought that that could mean I was able to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. Since I wouldn't have to work. However, my work decided to stay open for to-go drinks only. So now I am needed there (of course), but we do not have many customers which makes my work sometimes feel like a waste of time. I cannot complain because people have lost their jobs and I am still able to take care of myself. But because I am very busy, staring at the clock for 8 hours straight does not feel productive.
So this year, no NaNo for me. Even if writing a book is my biggest dream I now simply do not have the time to challenge myself like this. In March I did join the challenge and I was able to write around 15000 words. Which I had never done in a draft before. I hope to join next year's Camp NaNoWriMo in July, maybe I can reach 50000 words then. I also feel that I need to plan ahead my draft so that I can write more easily. I have many ideas for stories in my head but I am still thinking about one I could write a book (or maybe even multiple books) about. Fiction writing is something I really want to pursue in my life, but making time is sometimes hard for me to do. This is something I really want to work on next year.
Today's post was a bit on the shorter side, but I still hope you enjoyed reading it. Have a great weekend and I will see you again this Monday for this month's Monthly Classics post. I'll be talking about A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Until then feel free to look around on my blog and read other posts. Slowly it is getting more and more stacked with posts on books or topics related to books, so there might be something for you here!
Love,
Julia
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