I Owe My Last NaNoWriMo To My Writing Buddy
My stats were behind every time. Even when I posted my count it always came short. My bars were slightly above the daily average, but short of my writing buddy’s.
“You’re doing great so far,” she wrote.
“I don’t know, you’re nailing it more than me. You’re sure it’s your first time?”
“You’ve no idea how much I need my sleep.”
It was my first time as well. I hadn’t known about NaNoWriMo til I saw someone mention it in one of the writing forums I was following.
I have completed the 19th chapter to my story. Gearing up for NaNo in few weeks.
Upon asking a few questions, and getting all the information I could about the month-long challenge, I chose to give it a go. I didn’t forget the warnings and the tips, I was sure I would do it nevertheless, I had this idea in my head that was hanging around. ‘The world needed to see it.’
I tried writing the rough draft and I knew if I get too detailed I’d quickly run out when those ideas didn’t come to shape the entire short novel. I settled with writing the major plot points and the basic premise to guide me through. That way, it’d be easier to make amends and track my progress.
It was time to pick a buddy, and it was easier because we’d been writing on the same pace, and correcting each other’s mistakes on previous works.
“You’re doing Nano this year?”
“Yeah! my story could use a marathon. There’s also another 50K challenge on the other site.”
“Cool, let me add you as a buddy.”
So it began. I started a little late, on the 3rd of November actually, but I started on a good note, clocking and averaging of 2K+ words in a day.
It all started to change as my daily average shifted, and at some point I wasn’t even logging in my word count.
“I wrote close to 5K words yesterday, I think my head is growing lighter,” she wrote.
“What? I barely cracked 800.”
“You’re still on track, don’t lose hope!”
I didn’t, thanks to the back and forth chatter. It felt less like a chore with time, and more like a habit I’d always come back to. This pep talk worked even when she took a little while to finish in the end, but I was thankful because by the 23rd of November I passed 50K.
It’s sad because she isn’t taking on with this year’s Nano, and I won’t have the same buddy around.
But that, too, could turn out to be it’s own challenge.
