November is National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. This annual creative writing event challenges participants to write a 50,000-word manuscript in one month. To achieve 50k in 30 days, one must write 1,667 words a day (equivalent to about 6.5 pages double-spaced). I've known about NaNo for many years, and it's always been a bucket list item. However, I knew it would be nearly impossible during school. It's an intense challenge!
Well, now that I no longer have essays and research papers to write, I thought I'd write a book. I'm so pumped to finally join NaNo, and I thought I'd share about the story I'll be writing as well as my progress throughout the month. (Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok for more frequent updates!)
My story is a duel point-of-view Cinderella retelling set against the backdrop of the first German unification. Elise Kraemer is the daughter of a wealthy merchant whose hypocritical aunt seems bent on removing Elise from her own family. When her father's routine business trip takes longer than expected, Elise worries that something may have gone wrong. Friedrich Joseph August von Schwarzschild IV is heir to the throne of a small kingdom, amidst talk of unifying the German states and an impending war with France. August wants to do what's right, but August, his father, and his father's council cannot agree on what is right. An incidental meeting in a bookstore change the course of both their lives and their kingdom's future.
The basic premise for this story has been rolling around in my head for a few years now. I'm ready to flesh it out into a full story!
I've spent the last few weeks of October prepping, using the tools NaNoWriMo supplies. I've created character profiles, done very, very minimal research on the historical period, and plotted a bare-bones outline. I'm a planster, which in-between hardcore planning and hardcore winging it. In other words, I like to have a basic outline but also like to let the story find itself.
This is my approach to my first NaNo: if I succeed in writing 50k words, I'll be thrilled; if I write 25k, 10k, or only 5k, I'll still be thrilled. I have not focused on my creative writing as much as I would like in a long time, and I'm so ready to get back into it.
Since this post is a day late, I've already have 1,696 words done! Only 48, 304 to go.