This is a totally random post. But it involves previous NaNoWriMo's. I have a couple NEW posts coming up in the next couple of weeks. Make sure you keep your eye out for those. One of them contains a post that will announce whether or not I plan to do the coming NaNoWriMo.
Today, I was thinking about all the novels I wrote during NaNoWriMo and Camp sessions in the last 3 years. 4, if we were to count the one coming. I don't know how many of them I blogged about (probably all of them), but it's always great to re-visit and refresh the mind of past projects.
#NaNoWriMo2015 - Heart and Soul
This was my first EVER attempt at NaNoWriMo. I remember being determined to write the story. It was going to be different. But that November took a very out-of-this-world-turn for my family. What happened forced me into a dark place. I stopped writing, and could not write anything for months.
It is very disappointing when tragedy forces us to stop doing the things that we love. But here's the greater news:
Because of what happened, November 2015, my family emerged stronger than we've ever been. The months that followed were not any better, but when April of 2016 came around, I was ready to start fresh.
Which I totally did. I am currently working to overcome the pain and heartache tied to this book, and I hope to actually get it written. The story is too good to forget.
#CampNaNoWriMo2016 - Nothing Between Us
Now I know what you're thinking. "That's not the story you wrote for Camp NaNoWriMo2016." Oh, but it is. It's just got a different cover and a different title. About 3 after starting late and finishing early in the writing of this novel, I came to the conclusion that the original title did not fit the story and where it would end up.
Originally, this story was titled "The Blank Space". The whole story is EXACTLY the same as I wrote it (in 20 days, passing my word count goal of 50k to 65+k words).
I'm still very proud of the turnout of that story. There are ups and downs to how readers react to the plot, but it's all part of the learning process. I gotta let my armor be my shield to the people who have a negative reaction/feedback. But out of that story, I wrote a spin-off (finished a month and a half after Camp was over). Which had similar reactions, but is doing really well now that it spins off into 2 more novels. Of which 1 was completed a month after the first. Third was harder to write. I wrote the final words "The End" on January 1st, 2018.
#CampNaNoWriMoJuly2016 - Romeo's Sneakers
My Romeo & Juliet re-telling, with a bit of a twist. This is my Most Read story on Wattpad. It's almost at 19k reads. Which amazes me. I tried something different in Romeo's Sneakers with how the dual POVs are told. Ren (the main character voice) is told in present-tense, first person. And then his love-interest, Jade, is told in third person. But stays in present-tense. "She says" and not "She said".
Every time someone leaves me a comment, after they've tortured me with their silent reading the whole book, I'm just filled with glee. The feedback is amazing. Sure, I still might have some things that need tweaking, but overall it's my most read book.
I remember starting on time . . . I am pretty sure. But at one point, I fell behind. And during the last week of Camp, I surged forward and met my goal of 55-60K words. It's somewhere in that range, I haven't actually looked at the number in a while.
#NaNoWriMo2016 - Pieces of Me
I love this book so much. It holds the most precious of special places in my heart. I didn't exactly finish on time, just a day later than November 30th. I was still impressed. I had kicked butt and managed to do the challenge without feeling the oppression of the pain and heartache from the year before.
This story has since grown into a bit of a series. There's a character that takes control of a spin-off and then branches into other novellas. I haven't exactly finished them, with the exception of maybe 1, but I am very proud of them all.
I remember running to my mom to tell her about the accomplishment and her eyes bulging from her head. Because it surprised her as much as it surprised me. Even though it had been her to tell me about NaNoWriMo in the first place. She told me back the beginning of 2014. People had been talking about it a lot and she caught wind. Remember creating my account right away, but I didn't do anything until a year later.
I did not participate in #CampNaNoWriMoApril2017.
My heart wasn't in it. My family had hit another hard time and we were moving. I just didn't have the time (or the internet) to keep up.
#CampNaNoWriMoJuly2017 - Need You
Because I hadn't done Camp in April last year, I remember telling myself how I needed to make July count. Halfway through the challenge, Chad's brother, Dylan, started telling me I needed to give him a story too. Which is how "The Danes Brothers" have taken life.
Need You (fondly titled after that one line in that song Adam Sandler sings at the end of "The Wedding Singer" . . . "Need you, feed you . . .") doesn't quite get the feedback I've been hoping for. But the story itself allowed me to branch off into topics I never would have thought I'd write. There's a scene that happens about 55% through that I never in a million years would have written. And it turned out amazing. Even now, my poor heart is remembering the week of sleepless nights that followed writing that scene.
Dylan has a story STILL in the works, and so does the missing brother, Cooper. Yeah, figure that one out. I didn't even know Cooper existed until he came knocking on the door.
#NaNoWriMo2017 - Prince in Disguise
This was not a "new" story, per say. But I had gotten the idea to write it a month and a half prior to November 2017. A couple days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, I had written half the story on paper. I mean, I had nearly nothing else to do, except re-read all the books on my shelf and wait for the government to find/help my family.
I was in Maryland, staying with family, when I decided I would use NaNoWriMo2017 to get the story written and finished. That didn't exactly go to plan. I did write some of it, but we had so much going on that I actually didn't have time to write that month. Plus, I ended scrapping a lot of what I DID write.
Prince in Disguise, because I decided to scrap and go back to change some stuff, is definitely shorter than I originally wanted. It took me a while, but I recently finished the story and have been updating weekly on Wattpad.
#CampNaNoWriMoApril2018 - Montgomery
I was totally stoked when I thought up the outline for this story. Up until the last story, I had "pantsed" all my writing. I didn't plan anything. Prince in Disguise was partially planned. But for Montgomery, I planned a little under half of what I was hoping to write, and winging it the rest of the time.
Camp in April was a flop. I was still in Maryland. My extended family, on my mother's side, was still pretty much planning loads of stuff to do with us. It was the first time we'd visited them, after all. But another reason it became a flop is because I fell behind. I'd hit a wall and couldn't find my way around it. No matter how determined I was.
Now and then, I go back and write a little more. But I still can't seem to get passed this block. So, I'm not forcing it. That's always been one of my remedies. I don't force myself to keep writing something if my heart isn't in it. I'm more than certain Ryan, bad-ass female captain of the Starship, Montgomery, will be knocking on the door soon and will DEFINITELY try to get my attention again.
I did not participate in #CampNaNoWriMoJuly2018
While I totally wanted to participate during Camp in July, I couldn't. Not only did I have the dreaded Writer's Block, but I was also getting myself ready to come back to Puerto Rico. I didn't know what the situation would be like after getting back. I'd been gone nearly 9 months. My dad had only just gotten lights back at our house (which are still totally not at full capacity yet. we have someone coming to FINALLY fix it next week). I didn't think I would have internet. I was preparing for the worst.
Let me not forget to mention how the day I was flying back (July 17th), there was a freak thunderstorm that grounded all the plains flying out of D.C. My mom, me, and two younger brothers, had a connecting flight in Atlanta, Georgia. We missed the flight. But the airport was really cool. They changed our flights to the next one, which would be the next morning. They put us in a hotel for the night. We got free breakfast.
I had to adjust when I got back. I'm still adjusting. But I definitely have a better for everything now.
I hope you enjoyed my rambling. Remember, I will be sharing a post in the next couple of weeks, ON THIS NaNoBlog. So check back here now and then. See you in the funny papers.
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