Writing, Editing, NaNoWriMo and... NaNoSTEEMo?
It is, once again, far to late in the day for me to be thinking clearly.
Once again, it has become November, and for a lot of people with a "writing inclination," that means it's time for another edition of NaNoWriMo
Grasses in the sun...
For the uninitiated, "NaNoWriMo" is an acronym for "National Novel Writing Month," which is this thing that happens every year in November... and basically is a huge group challenge to writers who have ambitions of writing a book... to "get it together" and and write a novel in 30 days.
Easier said than done, even if you're a dedicated writer.
I have tried a couple of times, and failed pretty solidly, both times! But it did make me wonder whether there are any Steemians out there who are trying for NaNoWriMo, this year.
This year, my approach is a little different as I am not really participating as an author, but instead putting myself out there as an editor, for the first time.
Makes sense, really. The suggestion was actually Mrs. Denmarkguy's... since she is participating as an author this year, and had noticed that there's a whole area of the associated forum/web site that's dedicated to "support services."
Seems like a good opportunity for me to get my fledgling editing business in front of a lot of people who potentially will need help getting their newly created manuscripts "polished up."
Northern winter sunset
Whereas I love to write, I have to confess that my short little span of attention has always gotten in the way of my being able to write anything as extensive as an entire book. I have had plenty of good ideas and I have made at least a dozen outlines... but I have lacked the discipline to carry any of them to completion.
I've finally come to accept and embrace that I am really better suited to helping others with their books than creating one of my own.
Maybe my day will come... and maybe it won't. I have mostly let go of the idea... besides, there is still a "creative art" of sorts to taking a manuscript that's a bit rough around the edges, and making its author truly shine!
Anyway, hope everyone is having a good start to their weekend!
(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)
Have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo? Have you ever written a book? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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Created at 191102 01:51 PDT
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I "won' NaNoWriMo last year. Not done anything with the finished story (I published it on steem as I wrote it, anyway). I am doing it this year too. The same deal. Using @mariannewest's freewrite prompts to start me off and then I write another 1500+ words. Here is part 3 (links to the first two chapters are included at beginning of story)
https://steempeak.com/@felt.buzz/abbie-chapter-three-of-my-nanowrimo-tale-using-the-weekendfreewrite-prompts
Congratulations on completing the challenge... which is more than most people manage to do! I had thought of doing something similar; using my Steem blog as the venue for my daily writing... yet to figure our the time management on it, though!
You're a good writer, and using Marianne's prompts as a starting point is an interesting idea! Much success to you!
Thanks! @mariannewest is doing it too
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Hello @steemkitten!
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Oh my friend. I have not the slightest doubt that you will do a splendid job revamping manuscripts that are a bit rough around the edges, and will make its authors truly shine! I've seen your vigorous & strong muscles in that area.
Who knows? maybe exercising these new heavylifting routines you might get the stamina & some minimal inspiration to make your day will come sooner than expected. :)
I appreciate your encouraging words... and I am certainly going to give this new direction/opportunity my best shot!
Fiction isn't my forte, so NaNoWriMo isn't my thing, either. The library network has offered our various meeting room spaces for writer meetups, but my branch was ignored entirely.
They do seem to have relaxed their guidelines to where it no longer just centers on "novels," but now also includes genres like non-fiction, personal essays, memoirs and more.
I've been looking to read more about NaNoWriMo and found your post. Thank you for the wonderful explanation. I have dreams of writing my own book as well, but I'm not sure if I'm ready. I'm a bit hesitant in trying out the challenge for the month. But I'll see if I can come up with anything. Thanks again! 🙂🙂
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I have tried doing the challenge three times, and never managed to turn it into a book. It's one of those things I think you have to "feel ready" in order to succeed at. For me, there has always been too many other things going on in the month of November for me to be able to focus very much... and I needed something more specific than just "I want to write a book" to start with... I want to start with a concrete idea and an outline to work from.
I know we're already on the second day, and I missed the first, but I'm thinking of participating in the best way I can. It might not be a novel, but perhaps a short story. That could be fun too.
I haven't been too hung up on following "their" format. One year I simply made a commitment to do 30 blog posts in 30 days, keeping them all on a similar theme... but I only made it to about 18-19. The discipline seems harder (at least for me) than expected, or maybe it's just not my style to grind away at something every day.
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It takes a healthy dose of self knowledge to reach that point.
I have often thought that I'm more suited to inspiring others, supporting other creatives then being an artist myself. Then again, if I stop creating, I slowly start feeling worse and worse.
For the first time ever, I decided to try my hand on nanowrimo. My younger brother, who is a game maker, tired to talk me into it, several times before. This time he didn't but, on Halloween day, inspiration struck me. After having written some pages, I realized nanowrimo was about to start the next day. No excuse this time. The Portuguese weather is helping perfectly too. It's writing weather. Besides, I am living alone and have never had circumstances this perfect before ( no day job either ). The only thing stopping me is ME.
Best of luck on your editing job. I hope it will be enjoyable and I'm sure it will lead to further insight. Besides, it's nice to help other people :>)
Cheers,
Vincent
I have made 3 NaNoWriMo attempts so far. And I am doing it again this year. Last year, we made a big deal of it between the Freewrite and the @FreewriteHouse. We had contests and prizes for readers and it was a lot of fun. This year, I don't have the energy to do all that it takes to service the contests and rewards.
But will still give out random rewards for people who are telling me that they are participating this year. I think there are 5 of us at this point.
Personally, I am not even going to attempt a novel this year. My intention is to write 50,000 words and don't censor myself. It might become anything. I just want to get back into the habit of writing every day and writing a good amount of words.
Last year, I finished and uploaded to the site and received my certificate. The time before, I signed up and never started. My first year, I did write the 50,000 words. But my mom passed away in that month and I went to Germany. When it was time to upload the manuscript, I found myself without any internet access. Oh well.
I did not publish any of it so far.
You love editing and I don't LOL
If You helped some other, write a book. Would You be what is called a "Ghost Writer..?"
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