- TL;DR…And More? -

We’ve finally arrived at the real last page of this blog post, and it’s none other than the TL;DR note! I’m going to do my best to summarize the previous six pages because each one of those pages has at least 1,000 words. I hope I do a good job, so here goes nothing!

Writing Background

You don’t need to have a strong writing background in order to write stories, and it shouldn’t stop you from trying. I miss writing, and because of a couple factors, I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2019.

Writing Programs Can Make or Break This Challenge

Writing programs can make the writing process enjoyable or a pain in the . It’s good to find a program that caters towards your writing style. I used Scrivener for my NaNoWriMo story, and I found that program to work best for me. It also made writing more fun for me.

(Lack of) Privacy and Quietness

It’s best to write in an environment that allows you to write freely and without having to hide your work (that is if no one in your private life knows that you write), but life does not always work in your favor. If you’re someone who gets distracted by music, don’t listen to it while you write. Of course, if you’re at a place where you have no control over music, like a café, do the best you can. The type of music I listened to and my environment affected how I wrote and the amount of words I got down.

Pantsing vs. Outlining

Everyone has different writing styles. I find myself doing both pantsing and plotting. For me, there are pros and cons for doing one over the other. For the most part, I pantsed my story, but there were times in which I plotted. I avoided doing a complete outline of my story so that I don’t lose motivation to write it. Outlining helps, but that does not mean that pantsing should always be avoided.

Burning Out (Many Times)

Burnout is real. The challenge takes up a lot of time and writing on whim can exhaust you. The first week was easy for me, but that was not the case for the remaining weeks of November. I hit a huge slump and slowly lost motivation over time, and that eventually led to me burning out. I got over them by returning to my hobbies that didn’t include writing. I then remembered the reason for why I was participating in the writing challenge. And that changed everything. I went back to writing in no time, but I did take time for myself. And that was okay.

Keep Calm and Write…And Don’t Look Back!

Just write and don’t look back. Don’t erase anything and don’t bother doing an editing workshop until you’re done (whether it be a part, chapter, or the story itself). It’s okay to be frustrated with your writing because it is not perfect on the first try. I had to force myself to write and not look back, and if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have gotten this far.

That’s all for the TL;DR note! If you managed to read this entire blog post, I would like to say thanks! This is probably the longest blog post I’ve ever written here, and I have to say that I am surprised by that. I apologize for going off tangent on certain spots. I’m clearly not the best writer; I’m working on it, and hopefully it will show the next time I post something, whether it be a blog post or a story. In the meantime, I’m going to continue writing and practicing.

I hope you find my NaNoWriMo experience interesting. If you happen to be a writer, do you have any tips and advice for someone who is trying to write or get back into writing? If you do, I would appreciate it if you left a comment. I don’t plan on becoming a professional writer or author, but I still want my writing to improve since my future still requires me to write. Your advice may help me and the person who stumbles upon this blog.

Thank you, and I hope your day is a great one!

<3 Cat

P.S. I should have asked this earlier, but did you take part in NaNoWriMo 2019? :)