It was one of the wildest rides of my life, I must say. Just like ordinary one-month novelists, there were those days when I just bummed around in the middle of my novelling and not write because I was so tired due to schoolwork. And worse, there were those days when I feel like quitting. But hey! Who said that it was easy to write a novel with 50,000/+ words in less than or equal to thirty days?
Thankfully, I had lots of friends whom I have asked to write me messages of encouragement and because of that, I had thirty to read to kindle the fire back in my weakening novelist heart. It was a very helpful weapon I had against those voices in my head that were telling me to quit since my sibling-friends, the two have dragged me into this crazy experience, have already given up on their NaNoWriMo novels. But I still take my hats off to them, however, because they were able to bend my iron will. :))
I think it also helped that we made a deal months before NaNoWriMo that whomever does not make it to the finish line would have to buy the winners Venti drinks of the winners' choice from Starbucks. Though later on, just before NaNo started, we have upped it to a full Starbucks meal instead. (P.S. I am not advertising SB. LOLZ!) I, not liking the idea of spending heckalotta lunch money for them, was pushed to finish my novel.
Before NaNoWriMo proper began, I spent around two months preparing for the month-long event. I have looked for pictures--how my characters would look like; how their houses look like; their cars, and everything else I thought would help with their characterization. Apart from that, I have also been reading Chick-lit novels, as it was the genre to which the novel I was writing belongs, and surely, they have helped me when it comes to the structure, the language, and how the plot must unfold. One of the great modern-age writers from my country, Mr. Joachim Emilio Antonio, was surely right when he had written in my special notebook the following words:
Read. Read. Read.
Write. Write. Write.
In that order.
I did not say anything about editing yet.
But if I were to be asked to point out what the most important thing learned from the crazy NaNoWriMo experience was, I would say that it would be, aside from the overused 'do not give up' and 'just keep on writing' quote-unquote lessons, very important to have friends with you who would challenge you to go out of your comfort zone to achieve or be something or someone you never thought of having or being. Sure, it may sound as if you would allow them to push you around--I, admittedly, have an iron will and my friends always complain about how hard it is to even bend it; I am improving on it, though--but know that they would do so because they could not wait for you to get to the finish line and accomplish something spectacular. And trust me, they would be very happy to have been one of your cheerleaders. *wink*
P.S.
Another important lesson learned: have a bet with people you trust whenever you have a difficult task to accomplish and make sure that the stakes are high.
P.S.
Another important lesson learned: have a bet with people you trust whenever you have a difficult task to accomplish and make sure that the stakes are high.
Until the next writing/blogging escapade!
~kzbpascual
