So…it’s been awhile, and I’ve been super busy, AND kind of bummed that I’ve been too busy to post on here.

A couple of things:

1. I launched my YouTube Channel – it currently has 1 video up….I did record a video talking about NaNoWriMo that I planned on posting before the event actually started, but I never got around to editing it so I’ll be re-recording it and posting it later this week.
2. NANOWRIMO STARTED TODAY AND MY WORD COUNT IS STILL AT ZERO.

So now onto the main part of this post, the actual content that will make this post interesting to read. So NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month has started today. The goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November (30 days), which roughly equates to 1,700 words per day to stay on track.

I’ve completed NaNoWriMo every year since 2011, so since I was a senior in high school.

My first year was rough. Remember that post where I talked about writer’s block…well, in 2011 I experience my worst EVER case of writer’s block. When you only have 30 days to write 50K, writer’s block is the worst thing to get. It was so bad that none of my usual tricks to get out of it worked. I was stuck, my brain couldn’t seem to form any kind of coherent words, phrases, sentences – hell, it could barely form the english language when it came to that story. It was AWFUL. The story is crap. I ended up completing NaNoWriMo that year, but the last 25,000 words ended up being written in 5 days. I haven’t looked back at that story since.

2012 – my second year, and my first semester of college. The story I wrote that year was actually the sequel to my novel that I have been working on since 2012 – and while I didn’t have to cram half of the whole word count in the last five days, it was still stressful. Being a full time student, and trying to make the time to write at least 1,700 words a day was hard, but ultimately I was able to finish it. Since 2012 the novel I’m working on has been replotted and rewritten so the story I wrote for NaNoWriMo that year is incorrect and not needed to tell the story.

2013 – I was really excited for NaNoWirMo that year. In March/April/May, my friend an I went to a writing work shop with Sarah J. Maas, Susan Dennard, Erin Bowman, Kat Zhang and Jodi Meadows. One of the writing exercises was to roll a set of 3 dice, and then write a quick scene using the images that were on the top of the dice. That tiny scene I wrote ended up being my NaNoWriMo story for that year. For the months leading up to November all I wanted was to write the story, write the characters, but I wouldn’t allow myself. It is a fantasy story about good v. evil, light v. dark – a battle that my two main characters had to fight within themselves and with the world at large. “Goodness” and all the ideals that came with it were incredibly rare, most people were immoral and “bad” because goodness and light had been purged from the world. That story flew out of me when the time came, and I finished 2 days early. I still really love this story.

2014 – I wrote another fantasy story this year. This was an epic love story. A prince and a princess forever destined to be together – their lives constantly intertwined. A world that hits the rewind button whenever they die, and they always die at the same time. Just like in 2013 the story flew out of me, the words flowing easily to the page. 2013 and 2014 were easily the easiest and most enjoyable NaNoWriMo stories to write.

2015 – I was so set on writing a Peter Pan adaptation/inspired by/retelling – so I did it. While I was writing it, I thought I was so clever…after reading back through it after November ended, I realized that it wasn’t really that good of a story. Neverland was dying and it was up to a girl to save it. I feel like if I really sit down with the story, then I could fill in all the holes it has, but as it is, it’s not good.

Now that you all have a brief and vague idea on my NaNoWriMo history, I can tell you my three personal goals for the event.

1. Reach 50,000 words.
2. NEVER REPEAT 2011 NANOWRIMO EVER AGAIN (meaning, never get stuck writing 25,000 words in 5 days).
3. Write the whole story

When I say “Write the whole story” what I mean is, my goal is to do just that, but in bare bones, outline form. I try to write the story from start to finish, even if it means leaving out a lot of the detail and world or character development. My goal is to tell a whole story, because for me, it’s easier to go back in and fill in the blanks, so that is what I have been doing for the last 3 years, and it’s what I’m going to be doing this year, while I write my Young Adult Fantasy Novel. – Yes, that’s the title.

I hope any of you who read this and are doing NaNoWriMo that you are successful! Feel free to add me as a Writing Buddy on the site! “Hockadoo” is my username! I’ll be posting word count updates on Instagram and Twitter as well!

Thanks for reading!