This is the first year of me doing Nano. I signed up last year, but never started the novel. I originally got to know Nano through the Evernote Blog. Evernote is one of the sponsors of Nanowrimo, and they regularly post posts on the Evernote Blog about Nanowrimo. I suggest that you check it out!
I have never been great at creative writing, or writing in general. I also picked to do it at a pretty bad time of my life, in my last year of Secondary School when I have my GCSE exams. However, I decided to do it this year. I have never been great at writing as I said previously, but I decided to give it a go and see how it goes. One of my problems – or a virtue if you want to consider it like that – is that I don’t give up on what I am doing. When I start something, I finish it, whatever happens. You can see that in Nano, in my website, and in fact this blog.
I wanted to give up Nano around ten times throughout, with most of those times being near the end of it. Sometime I just wanted to go and watch some television after I had done my homework, not do Nano. Sometimes, it felt like more of a chore then something I wanted to do. However, I stuck through, and I completed it.
Scrivener was the tool I used to write Nanowrimo, but I researched and planned in Evernote. I have a strange relationship with Scrivener – I love it and hate it. I love it as its an amazing piece of kit, that tracks my word count and keeps me hitting my target every day. Without Scrivener, I would have struggled to complete Nanowrimo. Evernote did play a big part in helping me with Nano, and if I hadn’t used it to plan, I also doubt that I would have managed to complete it. I hate Scrivener as it means I have to start writing. I do enjoy writing a novel, however sometimes I don’t. Opening up Scrivener means that I have to work for an hour to hit my target, and often I would much rather go down and watch television, or even work on my website.
I did Nano as I have always wanted to write a novel. I felt that I was missing out when I did not compete last year, so I decided that I would take part this year. I have enjoyed it, yes. Despite this post portrays me as hating it, I enjoyed the process. Do I plan on competing next year? I am not sure – that year I will be doing A Levels, which may mean that I do not have enough time to do it. However, I would like to do it.
Coming to the end of Nano, I find that I will have a hell of a lot more free time than I had when competing. That certainly will be enjoyed! I know some people will want to know if I will put the novel on the internet, or share a synopsis. That I won’t. I don’t hate the work I have done, but I don’t like it. As mentioned earlier, I am not a great writer, and this novel is not great. So it won’t be coming out.
I recommend that you check out Nano, and maybe even check it out and take part next year. It is a pretty fun and testing experience.
Thanks for reading!
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