*hops out of moving train*
Hello, and welcome to the final FULL WEEK of Camp NaNoWriMo. We’ve got the usual updates at the top, and for my short little snippet at the bottom, we’ll be talking about your favorite word: failure.
I’m sorry my posts have been rushed lately, but my focus and priority has been my Camp NaNo project, and it will stay that way for the entirety of this month. So with that settled, let’s hop in.
WANT TO READ THE REST OF MY CAMP NANO JOURNEY?
Day 18
On day 18, I had friends over, so I took the day off. Even during Camp NaNoWriMo, it’s a good idea to take your focus off of your writing sometimes and allow yourself to rest and recharge. Just don’t do it for too long, or you might end up playing the catch up game like I often find myself doing.
Days 19-21
I legitimately cannot recall what happened during this period of time, only that I didn’t get to write much, resulting in me falling behind. And having to actually consider that I might not make my goal this month (50K).
The problem I had was the same one I had last week: perfectionism. I spent too long trying to make my first draft a masterpiece when what I really needed to do was get down words quickly.
Day 22
That’s why day 22 was when I finally got myself to put a pause on the perfectionism and get writing, fast. Although I was still incredibly behind, I told myself to go for it and shoot for the finish line, no matter what, thus ending up with a little over 3000 words via a bunch of short, 25-minute sprints. No fixing typos, no distractions. Just getting words down onscreen, then taking five to ten minutes to read through and fix typos.
Day 23
Because I decided to be smart and actually plan things, I started to write this very post on this day. That, and also get 3K words again. It’s the unfortunate truth about NaNoWriMo: if you fall behind, you need to take bigger and bigger leaps in order to catch up. However because I was not smart the night before, I was running low on sleep and therefore running low on mental energy to write. However, I did go over the 50% mark: 25,000 words.
Day 24
Oof, okay. I felt so done. So done with writing, so done with pushing myself. So what did I do? I pushed myself. Shorter sprints, more frequent breaks. I learned to write faster, accomplishing 500 words at a time in less than 15 minutes.
The result? Your girl has victoriously reached 30,000 words in her WIP.
About failure: is it acceptable?
And we move on to the second part of the post, which is… failure. Is it okay to fail challenges like this? Does it make you an incompetent writer, a total disgrace, a person who’s just proved they weren’t worthy?
My answer: it’s okay to fail. Because failure can be good. Once you know how failure feels, you’re motivated to try again so you can succeed. Success is always sweeter after facing failure. And even better, you can learn from your previous mistakes and grow.
Let’s chat 🙂
We’re approaching the end of July! Camp NaNo-ers, how are you faring? Are you the fast one who’s already verified their project? The determined one who’s trying to catch up (hint: that’s me)? Let me know in the comments below, or tell me how you feel about failure!
All the best,
