NaNoWriMo Diaries

I Completed My Draft. What Now?

Let it soak in; that fulfillment as you take in the completed draft in front of you. You did it! Whether you slayed your draft as part of NaNoWriMo or in your own free time, you have in front of you a fully formed draft of your novel.     No longer is the...

Post NaNoWriMo Contemplations

"It's good to have an end to journey toward; but it's the journey in the end that matters." I crossed the 50k word count for NaNo on the 26th, but it was into the beginning of the 30th that I truly accomplished my goal. This NaNo, I aimed to complete the rewrite and...

Victory Is Mine, NaNoWriMo 2020!

When I won NaNoWriMo 2020, I didn’t even notice it. I was banging away at the keyboard, determined to finish the chapter I was in the process of writing. Caught up in the emotional turmoil of my characters and the Winter Wonderland setting of my scene, I lost track of...

Reaching the Mid-Way Point

We are three short days away from the mid-way point to this year’s NaNoWriMo! To my immense relief, I managed to make up for Week 1’s slow writing and reached the mid-point to my novel yesterday. At some points, I push through the writing even when I don’t feel like...

Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo

As I wrote in my previous post, Week 1 of NaNoWriMo was largely a bust. There should be badges on the NaNoWriMo site for “no-writing-done streaks” because I think I’m running into three-days now.   Not to say I didn’t get any writing done. I’m at 11k words and only...

Turning Down the NaNoWriMo Pressure

  Is it just me or has this week been passing by at a snail’s pace? For our friends in the Northern Hemisphere, the impending results of the US election have been stirring up a lot of tension and unrest. Of course, these turbulent emotions aren’t just felt by...

A Slip in the Momentum

“I’m not sick!! I don’t get sick! Getting sick is for weaklings and for pansies!”Monica Geller from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.I lie in bed with my head propped up, like a meerkat peeking out of its hole, and the laptop precariously balanced on my thighs as I type out this blog...

Initial Writing Excitement

"Write, write, write!"   Thank the heavens that NaNoWriMo 2020 kicked off on a Sunday. More often than not, I end up working Sundays as well but apart from an hour’s worth of work on a client project, I had nearly all day free yesterday. It wasn’t a...

T-minus 4 Hours Till the Big Start!

  From my quaint little house in Madurai, India, I occasionally glance over at the clock and sit lazily in my living room, aimlessly scrolling through my Twitter feed while keeping an eye on the IPL cricket match on the TV screen. In the back of my mind, a...

It’s the Final Countdown to NaNoWriMo

Keep calm. The countdown has begun. It’s the end of October. Halloween is days away and I’ve seen buzz on the Internet on how people plan to celebrate in style during this pandemic-ridden year. But a lot of us wait with bated breath for what comes the next day: the...

How Many Drafts Is Too Many Drafts?

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” Shannon HaleI remember the lesson we had on writing drafts in my Creative Writing class in middle school. My teacher, Mrs. G, took us through...

Pre-NaNoWriMo Jitters

The scariest moment is always just before you start.We are less than ten days away from the start of NaNoWriMo and I am freaking out, but in a very calm and collected manner. By that, I mean I’ve been staring at the several tabs open on my laptop: tabs related to...

Revamping My Writing Space

“When I create, it’s like the Sun’s warmth touching my skin after a deluge of rain. I’m in my happy zone once again.” - Lorna KnopppLet’s face it – this year has not been kind to most of us. For us writers, the rolling lock-downs and stay-at-home routine can be...

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