- Writing Background -

My background in writing is…not as broad as the backgrounds of some writers on AFF. Writing was not, and still is not, one of my strongest suits. Before finding out about fanfics, I had little to no exposure to creative writing and storytelling. In school, my writing had been limited to essays, reports, research papers, personal statements, and e-mails. Anything that had to do with creativity was limited to art and music, which were the only creative classes/extracurriculars I participated in when I was in high school. I am used to writing in a formal—“proper,” according to my sister—language and it eventually got carried into my typed conversations with my friends. Because of this, I get nagged at by my own sister for writing and typing “properly,” but can you blame me for getting used to writing in that way after writing personal statements for college?

My writing and storytelling skills are very, very rusty. I have not been writing on AFF for over two years now, and to be honest, I miss doing that. I gave writing a try a few years ago, and after posting my stories here, I realized how fun it was to make my ideas come to life. But as I continued writing, I started having second thoughts on posting my work, mainly because of my grammar, writing style, and ideas. I at anything having to do with English (the class, not the language itself), and it so happens that English was my worst subject in high school. I always want to improve my writing since it is something I will never not do in my life, but at the same time, I struggle writing without wanting to give up and erase everything I’ve written. I stopped writing for a while (I would write snippets here and there), but the ideas never stopped coming to me. They would lead to me jotting them down, and they sometimes lead to me writing and plotting. Because I kept those notes and wanted to do something about them, I decided to pick writing up again.

But after remembering how long it had been since I wrote stories, I realized that I needed to practice and rebuild my writing skills. My private life does not allow for me to relax and do my hobbies. I spend my free time sleeping, doing work, or helping around the house, so my hobbies and time for relaxing are always put at the bottom of my to-do list. With school and work being my main priorities, the only way I could write was by doing something that required me to write.

With that in mind, when it was time for me to register for classes, I signed up for a creative writing class.

I took that class a while ago as my “fun” class of the term—at that time, I was piled with extracurriculars, technical classes, and event planning. And not to mention, I was a couple units short from becoming a full-time student. To my happiness, the class focused on fiction writing and was open to students who weren’t majoring in English Literature or minoring in Creative Writing. I wanted to get back to writing, and I also wanted to improve my storytelling skills (and boost my confidence in sharing my original works). And those happen to be the reasons that led to me signing up for that class.

The class was the breath of air I needed. Since my first year of college, my classes were requirements for either my major or graduation. I’ve never taken a class that focused on creativity at my university, so this was a new experience for me. I came to the class with ideas that were already churning the gears in my head, and I was ready to rebuild myself. And by the end of the term, I felt rejuvenated and free, but more importantly, I became more confident and comfortable with writing and sharing my works with my peers.

Of course, all good things come to an end. At the end of the term, my instructor talked to the class about writing after the end of the term. He hoped that we would continue writing, either as a profession or for fun, like what I am doing. Before dismissing us and wishing us luck on our stories (for our final portfolio), he told us to try new things, and one of them was NaNoWriMo.

When he mentioned that challenge, I was reminded of how I had come across it. My exposure to NaNoWriMo was not through my writing instructor; it was instead through Korekrypta. This happened about two years ago when Korey wrote Borderlander during NaNoWriMo 2017 and succeeded in writing 50,000+ words. I was amazed by her dedication to the challenge, and I love the stories I am currently reading by her and her writing style. By the end of that month, I was left wondering if I should ever attempt that challenge in the future.

I personally enjoyed the writing class—it was my favorite class for that term—and upon remembering what my instructor had said, how much fun I had a few years ago, and Korey’s successful attempt at the challenge, I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2019. Given my writing background, I knew that this was going to be a difficult month for me since I had never written anything with 50,000+ words.

But if anything, I was excited, and I couldn’t wait to start the challenge and see how far I would go within thirty days.

Coming Up: Writing Programs Can Make or Break This Challenge