I like to
read and I like to write. Those things are no secret. In the past years I have
become an avid reader, reading around 4 books a month. This part of my literary
hobby is well cared for and part of my everyday routine.
Writing on
the other hand… Let’s just say writing and I have a love-hate relationship. I
love writing, I love expressing my thought and creating worlds that only
existed in my mind. But still, I find it hard to sit down and just write. There
have been periods of my life where I wrote almost every day. Creating a wild
array of short stories. On the other hand, there have been years where I have
not written a single word. This inconsistency bothers me. It’s not that I don’t
know what to write. I just don’t do it. I did not know how to tackle that
problem. Re-opening this blog was one
part of the solution. By giving me a schedule of posting once a week, I have to
write at least one day a week. So far that’s working for me.
But
creating bigger projects takes more time than a blog post. So how could I get
myself to write everyday on a bigger project? The answer, that I have found for
myself is: NaNoWriMo.
For those
that don’t know what NaNoWriMo is: It stands for National Novel Writing Month.
Pretty self-explanatory,
but the concept is interesting. NaNoWriMo takes, places every November. During
November the participants try to write 50.000 words on their story’s. It’s not
about the quality but rather about the quantity. Editing can still be done
afterwards.
To prepare
for NaNoWriMo there is the possibility to participate in a so called: CampNaNoWriMo “an idyllic writers retreat, smack-dab in the middle of your crazy
life”. It takes place in April and July each year. The main difference between
the main event and these camps is, that in the camps you can set your own
goals. And that’s what I did.
On April
second I spontaneously decided to participate in this year’s NaNoWriMo. And, to
get an idea for how much work that would be, in both training-camps. As fate wanted
to, I had just started a short story to put on this blog. I decided, that I
would finish this story and then move on to another. About four days in I realised,
that the short story had potential for more. So I kept working on it.
The goal I
had was 900 minutes by the end of the month. 30 minutes per day seemed more
than doable. I did not reach my goal. In total I worked 516 minutes on my
project. There are multiple reasons to why I did not fulfil my goal. The main
one was, that I started during my semester break, with lots of free time on my
hands. But not even halfway into the month university started again. This time
with full force. I pretty much knew the second day of term, that I would not be
able to write every day. There was just too much going on. So on Day 19 I decided
to stop completely. It was better for my wellbeing and the story.
I did not
finish. Did I fail my first ever attempt? Yes and No.
Yes in the
sense, that I was unable to fulfil the goal I set for myself.
No in the
sense, that I learned so much and I was well on time until I stopped writing.
I consider
the whole experience as a success.
Here’s what
I’ve learned during nineteen days of Camp NaNoWriMo:
-
30
minutes a day is doable, but the quality of the written is not that good. I
need around 25-30 minutes to get into the flow.
-
Two
hours is my ideal writing time, after that I need a break.
-
Writing
without music is better for my creativity
-
Writing
a longer story, while it’s still developing might not be the best idea. So many
plot holes.
-
Writing,
like every skill takes time and practice.
-
Its
ok to not like everything about what you created. Only that you did counts.
-
For
NaNoWriMo I will most likely set myself a personal goal. Not the 50.000 words.
That way I will stay motivated and not get overwhelmed.
Overall it
was a very inspiring and interesting experience. And I was able to be a bit
more constent with my writing. I will most definitely participate in the camp
in July. Does anybody wants to be my writing buddy? J
Lastly:
Here’s a short excerpt from the story I am working on (German only).
Der Uhrenturm
„Ich meine, was willst du von deinem Leben. Ich
glaube dir nicht, dass es das hier ist“ Aren schrie jetzt beinahe. Hanna konnte
ihn und seine Verzweiflung nicht verstehen.
„Was kümmert dich das? Es ist
doch nicht dein Leben!“
„Was es mich kümmert? Eine meiner
ältesten Freunde verschwendet ihr Leben an einem Ort den sie hasst! Hanna da
draußen ist eine ganze Welt! Du hast die Chance sie zu sehen, weißt du wie
viele Menschen dafür sterben würden diese Chance zu bekommen?“
„Ich habe nicht um diese Chance
gebeten!“
„Du bittest um gar nichts! Bei
allen Geistern, wie kann dir dein Schicksal bloß so egal sein?“ er lachte
frustriert, strich sich mit der Hand die Haare aus dem Gesicht und machte sich
daran den Raum zu verlassen.
„Aren, ich habe kein Schicksal“
Sie hatte es schreien wollen, doch ihre Stimme war so leise, dass er es eigentlich
nicht hätte hören können. Hanna hatte es sich nie eingestehen wollen, doch in
dem Moment in dem sie es ausgesprochen hatte, wusste sie, dass es die Wahrheit
war. Sie hatte keine Rolle in dieser Welt. Sie war außerhalb von ihr geboren
und aufgewachsen. Es war nur richtig, dass sie auch außerhalb von ihr starb.
Aren war im Türrahmen stehen
geblieben. Er hatte sich wieder zu ihr umgedreht. Die Wut war aus seinem
Gesicht verschwunden.
„Jeder Mensch hat ein Schicksal.
Alles auf dieser Welt existiert aus gutem Grund. “seine Stimme war leise,
gefüllt mit Wärme. Hanna lachte frustriert.
„Ich nicht. Schau dich doch um. Das hier ist wo
ich hingehöre. Ein leerer Ort für ein leeres Mädchen.“
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