i'm kind of scared

How about if you tried to mix in a fictional friend in your reality saga? What would that friend be like? Nice or evil? Good looking or ugly? Fun or borning?

It's just a suggestion. Think of a new angle. You have written over 2000 words and that's a good start. My daughter is 10. She is writing total 4000 words. And that's a long story for her. Don't put the bar so high. Give yourself a chance to do well!

Good luck! Keep on writing. It's not life or death.

thanks for the suggestion but i think that im going to stick with what i have because its easier to write and describe my feelings when its something i have experienced. i know i can do it i just have to push through. maybe ill try ur suggestion when i finish this novel and start a new one. its a great idea i just dont think that im ready for that and im not very experienced when writing fictional things.

tbfan05

That's it, Ashley. Stick with what feels right to you. As everyone has agreed, this is a first draft of a novel ... a ROUGH first draft, due to the time constriction in which we're writing. I, myself, look at it as "practice." When I started writing 4 years ago, I was completely in the dark as to what a REAL writer went through to come up with a finished story. I thought they ripped that last piece of paper out of the ol' typewriter after typing THE END, and mailed it off to a publisher. Hah!

I've learned a lot and I've perfected my technique, but I still have a long way to go. Everything I write is better, more readable. The friends I've made through NaNoWriMo have helped me immensely, but I'm still learning. That's how we start.

Just keep writing! Every word, every sentence, brings you that much closer to becoming "AN AUTHOR." Don't even think 'down the road.' Think November, and write, write, write ... anything and everything that comes into your head!

Good luck and have fun,
~Bruce

_______________________________________
2006 winner ~ "Drew Copes"
2007 winner ~ "So, These Three Murderers are Drinking in a Bar"
2008 winner ~ "Eater of Sins"
2009 ~ continuation of a WIP (NaNoRebel)

Thanks, Bruce. That helps me a lot. Let's me see that I'm making the right decisions because being unexperienced has been a challenge. I'm happy to know that it gets easier and I will learn to find my way throughout the years and this month as well. I will take your advice and go wherever I may happen to. Become more experienced and become "AN AUTHOR".

tbfan05

I think Bruce said it even better than I could. Yes, it is kind of scarey, but you're trying. If you don't finish, it's okay. No black mark goes on your record and the novel police don't come to your door demanding you finish! In other words, not the end of the world. Keep writing, let the ideas flow. Don't expect perfection. I've been writing a long time, the last few years pretty much full time, and I can turn out a good first draft, but it's still not perfect. The goal is to finish, not if it's got all the punctuation in the right place or if you'd managed to foul it all up and make a mess of it. You're going to do great! Dellani

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

It is scary if you think in terms of 50,000 words, so don't. Think of 12,500 a week, or 1670 a day. At 250 words to a page, that's 6-7 pages a day. But there's no pressure to do it all. First year; do half if you want. Gives you a personal best to beat next time. Remember it is for fun.

It the words of the immortal bard:
We're just here to have fun. It the audience wants to come along for the ride, cool. Well, maybe Shakespeare didn't say that, but he should have.

When in doubt, kill a character, have a disaster, or blow something up.

2007 - Doors of Perception
2008 - The Alien Who Fell