This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USFCA chapter.
Ever participated in National Novel Writing Month? Ever written a 50,000 word novel in a month? If you have never heard of it, or if you’ve been doing it for years, here are the seven stages that all NaNoWriMo participants go through.
1. Excitement! You are starting your new novel, you’ve been planning for months and November 1st has finally arrived! Let’s get those creative juices flowing!
2. Worry: 1,667 words a day is quite a lot. You realize this may have been a mistake. The task before you is so daunting!
3. The Grind: Just like going to work or school, you have now reached the phase of hard-working word vomiting. It may not be a perfect draft, it may not even be good, but you’re putting in the time and getting your story down.
4. The anxiety sets in: You start to doubt why you are even a writer, you’re 3,000 words behind and don’t get home until 8 that night. Now you have to stay up until 1am catching up on a story riddled with plot holes! Writing feels impossible!
5. Overwhelmed! Your on your 4th cup of tea/coffee today and it’s only noon! The word count feels daunting AND you’ve got a serious case of Writers Block. But you just have to keep pushing and maybe have another cup of coffee… or the whole pot.
6. Comfortably Numb: You are nearly there, at the 40,000 word mark and you’re only a day behind. Things may or may not work out but you know that you’ve come to far to quit now. Plus, you’re now numb to the stress so it’s fine anyway.
7. Relief/Elation/Exhaustion: YOU DID IT! You wrote a whole freaking novel in a month! What can’t you do? You’re exhausted and ready for a 30 hour nap but it was all worth it because you made it and now you have a whole novel to show for it! Will you do it next year? Of course!
