Does This Count? | NaNoWriMo20 Week One

I am finally doing this!

So, after literal years of wanting to take part, it’s finally time for NaNoWriMo20.

If you don’t know what this is, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, an annual writing challenge in which aspiring authors pledge to write 50k words of their chosen WIP through the month of November.

However, I’m not necessarily taking part in the traditional way… Instead of literally writing my novel every day with a word target, I’m actually working on my novel every day. I have been and will be researching, planning, plotting, learning and yes, writing, every day in November, and hopefully beyond! I’m using NaNo to build up this daily habit. Does this even count as taking part in the writing challenge? Well I am saying yes.

Although I have no “figures” to check, at this stage anyway, I am using an app called Word Keeper to track how long each day I work on my novel and also what stage of the book I’m at which is pretty cool.

A little bit about my WIP

I’m planning to write a dual perspective new adult romance series. So far I have ideas for three books, in which each book features a different couple, but they all make appearances in each story.

I’m excited to include some own voices representation of anxiety, compulsions, panic attacks and PCOS alongside discussions of feeling like you don’t belong, being lost in your twenties and more. Of course there will be other rep too.

There are some other situations I have been thinking about including but I definitely want to get some research done first, to ensure that everything is handled with care.

This week I have…

• Created moodboards for the first book which immediately fuelled my creativity
  
• Really got under the skin of my first two main characters, their likes, dislikes, personality, characteristics, hopes, dreams, hobbies, family, past and more
  
• Created in depth profiles for secondary characters/future protagonists which has me SO excited. They’re feeling super 3D
  
• Binge watched author channels like Heart Breathings and K.M. Weiland and writing advice videos
  
• Made a little to do list of topics to research and areas to look into more

Plans for next week

Now that I’ve really got to know my characters, I’m going to spend this next week doing the research mentioned above. This includes things like where the books are set (i.e. which state/town in America), how some of the characters have got there (two are from England), dig a bit deeper into the rep I want to include because my experience isn’t the only experience and a few other topics. Also, as mentioned in my November TBR, I’m going to be doing some reading on writing books too.

I will probably also be plotting; I have some scenes in mind that are definitely making their way into the story, but I need to build around them. A pantser I most definitely am not.

I’m feeling so inspired

I’ve got a really good feeling about this so I can’t wait to see how far I can go. These characters and these stories seem so tangible to me, especially after dreaming about them for long. Now, I just have to do them justice. I mean, no big deal…

Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo20? I’d love to chat!

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