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Words Count
Nov. 12th, 2022 10:51 am November means NaNoWriMo! And I've been writing up a storm!
....sort of.
On Thursday I was nearly at the halfway mark (word count-wise) and I was pleased as punch! That is, until, I checked Facebook (which I rarely do these days) and showed me a status from the same day 3 years ago (11/10/19) in which I'd already finished NaNo. (50k in 10 days, who does that??? I did, apparently.)
But hey....20k in 10 days isn't bad, right?
2019 was also the only year I completed NaNoWriMo "properly." As in: I was writing in one project the whole time. I rounded out that year with over 100k words! I started and finished my fic The Best Kept Secrets (don't recommend actually reading that one. Cringe.) that month. It was a wild ride. I was writing before work, during my lunch break, after work. I was a lady on a mission!
I also did NaNoWriMo in 2020 and 2021, but I went "rogue" those years, writing in various projects. (Many, many one shots, as is my specialty.) I surpassed the 50k goal both times, though I never did hit 100k like 2019 (which was my first year doing NaNo.)
This year I've gone even more rogue than usual.
To be perfectly frank, my mental health is shit right now. I'm still working on balance and boundaries. I'm trying to put less pressure on myself. Trying to be less perfectionistic. Which is particularly difficult when one has extreme anxiety and OCD. My brain has Rules, and trying to bend or break said rules is...well...a challenge. Chill out? Enjoy myself? What does that even mean?
On the first day of November (this year, 2022), I wasted my day away, not working on one of the many fics I need to work on, but answering Snape asks on Tumblr. So joked that NaNoWriMo would be a breeze if I could just wax poetic about Snape for 50k words. (Not exactly what I said, but that was the gist of it.) To which dear sweet Squash was like "you should!"
...and I thought: maybe I should.
(Is that okay?)
(Is that allowed??)
(C'mon, Brain, we make the rules!!!)
So I copy-pasted my Snape meta into my NaNoWriMo 2022 Scrivener document. As well as the many, many HP astrology readings I've been obsessing over. I've managed a few words here and there in various fics, but the bulk of it has just been meta. Massive amounts of HP meta. And when I'm not fretting over whether or not it "counts", I'm having a blast!!!!
As of yesterday (11/11/22) I reached the halfway mark. And as of now (11/12/22) I'm at 27k! I've spent a little time here and there wringing my brain for fic inspo. And most of my time combining my two great loves: Harry Potter, and astrology. Deep dives into various characters and relationships. Brushing up on my astrology knowledge. Putting real practice into chart readings (which, there is much less pressure in that when it's for fictional characters, I must say.)
It's sort of nice showing my enthusiasm for fandom in different ways, other than just fic-writing. I was going to say "storytelling" but astrology is a language of storytelling, really. I write these with my own voice, which is a nice change of pace. I can really let loose on my keyboard without any worries. There's so much joy in it. The joy in the making, and the joy in the sharing. I can't remember the last time I felt true joy in my work.
So, sure...November is National Novel Writing Month. Writing fanfiction for NaNo felt wrong to begin with. Then writing various one shots the past few years. Writing meta feels the most incorrect of all.
But...it's still writing, isn't it? The NaNo website only counts words. And I'm making words. More than that, I'm sharing them! There's still so much time and effort that goes into these pieces. So much energy. So much brain power. So much love. My mind is working overtime, putting all the pieces together, and putting them all into words. Words! And maybe I'm not making progress on the projects I wanted to, but I'm still being productive. I'm creating content. Other people (a few, at least) are enjoying it.
All that counts...doesn't it?
....sort of.
On Thursday I was nearly at the halfway mark (word count-wise) and I was pleased as punch! That is, until, I checked Facebook (which I rarely do these days) and showed me a status from the same day 3 years ago (11/10/19) in which I'd already finished NaNo. (50k in 10 days, who does that??? I did, apparently.)
But hey....20k in 10 days isn't bad, right?
2019 was also the only year I completed NaNoWriMo "properly." As in: I was writing in one project the whole time. I rounded out that year with over 100k words! I started and finished my fic The Best Kept Secrets (don't recommend actually reading that one. Cringe.) that month. It was a wild ride. I was writing before work, during my lunch break, after work. I was a lady on a mission!
I also did NaNoWriMo in 2020 and 2021, but I went "rogue" those years, writing in various projects. (Many, many one shots, as is my specialty.) I surpassed the 50k goal both times, though I never did hit 100k like 2019 (which was my first year doing NaNo.)
This year I've gone even more rogue than usual.
To be perfectly frank, my mental health is shit right now. I'm still working on balance and boundaries. I'm trying to put less pressure on myself. Trying to be less perfectionistic. Which is particularly difficult when one has extreme anxiety and OCD. My brain has Rules, and trying to bend or break said rules is...well...a challenge. Chill out? Enjoy myself? What does that even mean?
On the first day of November (this year, 2022), I wasted my day away, not working on one of the many fics I need to work on, but answering Snape asks on Tumblr. So joked that NaNoWriMo would be a breeze if I could just wax poetic about Snape for 50k words. (Not exactly what I said, but that was the gist of it.) To which dear sweet Squash was like "you should!"
...and I thought: maybe I should.
(Is that okay?)
(Is that allowed??)
(C'mon, Brain, we make the rules!!!)
So I copy-pasted my Snape meta into my NaNoWriMo 2022 Scrivener document. As well as the many, many HP astrology readings I've been obsessing over. I've managed a few words here and there in various fics, but the bulk of it has just been meta. Massive amounts of HP meta. And when I'm not fretting over whether or not it "counts", I'm having a blast!!!!
As of yesterday (11/11/22) I reached the halfway mark. And as of now (11/12/22) I'm at 27k! I've spent a little time here and there wringing my brain for fic inspo. And most of my time combining my two great loves: Harry Potter, and astrology. Deep dives into various characters and relationships. Brushing up on my astrology knowledge. Putting real practice into chart readings (which, there is much less pressure in that when it's for fictional characters, I must say.)
It's sort of nice showing my enthusiasm for fandom in different ways, other than just fic-writing. I was going to say "storytelling" but astrology is a language of storytelling, really. I write these with my own voice, which is a nice change of pace. I can really let loose on my keyboard without any worries. There's so much joy in it. The joy in the making, and the joy in the sharing. I can't remember the last time I felt true joy in my work.
So, sure...November is National Novel Writing Month. Writing fanfiction for NaNo felt wrong to begin with. Then writing various one shots the past few years. Writing meta feels the most incorrect of all.
But...it's still writing, isn't it? The NaNo website only counts words. And I'm making words. More than that, I'm sharing them! There's still so much time and effort that goes into these pieces. So much energy. So much brain power. So much love. My mind is working overtime, putting all the pieces together, and putting them all into words. Words! And maybe I'm not making progress on the projects I wanted to, but I'm still being productive. I'm creating content. Other people (a few, at least) are enjoying it.
All that counts...doesn't it?
