NaNoWriMo 2022
Shipshape was born in the month of November during NaNoWriMo in 2013. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it happens every November. I was so proud of myself for writing 50,056 words all those years ago. I had never written that much in my life, but while I had a complete draft, I knew I had a lot of work to do.
When I started writing, I didn’t set out to publish. All I wanted to do was see if I could do it. I needed a way to process a lot of big feelings and struggles in my life, and writing had always brought me comfort. It wasn’t until much later that I thought I might want to publish it someday. For years, I would pick up the draft again and again. I painstakingly edited words and grammar. I printed and cut the chapter titles and arranged them and rearranged them until I had a story flow that made sense.
I added many more chapters and characters along the way too. Some stayed, but many were eventually cut. At one point, Ms. B. had a whole additional set of chapters in part 1 about what she was going through from her perspective, and Mr. Yesler had a completely different name. Those chapters didn’t make it into the book. I even wrote 30,000 more words for one draft, but I slashed that number in half during another draft. The point here is that writing is messy, and it takes a long time and many drafts.
I can’t believe it’s November again. It feels like it was just last November when my niece was born and I was writing a draft for a YA novel. I didn’t get very far on the novel, but I did encourage my dad to start writing. And I now have a beautiful niece.
I love November because of all the promise it holds for a writer like me. It pushes me to carve out time in my busy day to write. Just write. I often have no idea what I’m going to write about at the start of the month. While I’ve only finished one novel during NaNoWriMo, I have tried many other times with many other projects. This year is no different. I’ve decided to write about my surroundings in Costa Rica, create some new characters, and include some mysterious twists and turns. I’m excited about where it’s going so far.
If you want to give NaNoWriMo a try, it’s never too late. And if you want to encourage young people to write too, NaNo provides tons of resources for young writers.
Best of luck on your writing journeys!
