In my newsletter this week I wrote a little about beginnings (T-Swift lyrics may have been mentioned). As you probably already know, I started writing a new book this past weekend. The timing just so happened to line up so that my first new project in over three years began at the same time NaNoWriMo did. My elevator pitch? Kaylee walks into a bookstore, picks up a new release and reads the book dedication. It’s to dedicated to her father, who has been dead for just over a year. The author, who she has never heard of before, isn’t answering her emails.
I’m excited. More than excited. And a little terrified.
This new book is like probably most other NaNo novels I’ve started (and I’ve started eight of them now – I think I’ve actually only ever gone on to finish one or two of them so far). Usually the first few days you’re just burning off all your excitement by writing a bunch of words – I LOVE WRITING I LOVE THIS BOOK I’M GONNA GET IT PUBLISHED!!! This doesn’t last forever, but the first week or so usually my novel is all I think about 24/7.
I’m excited because it’s new and I get to “bond” with new characters and really settle into a more comfortable writing style (I loved my sci-fi experiment but it’s definitely not where I’m most at ease writing-wise). I starting writing YA and I’m not afraid to branch out, but it’s definitely my niche and most of the authors I follow are YA. It’s all-around amazing. Mostly.
The only concern I have is still a good concern in the long run. The problem with working on a novel for three and a half years is you can’t fixate yourself on one story for too long. Toward the end there I really started recognizing how hungry I was for a new writing challenge. I wasn’t challenging myself anymore. I was still in college when I started working on that book and I’ve matured a lot, writing-wise and life experience-wise since then. I knew I was ready to take on something a little different, which was why I went with this idea in particular for NaNo 2015.
I won’t say much more about it other than the short pitch I gave above, but it has some heavy stuff in it. A lot about innocence and growing up, grief, believing what you need to believe to get through the day. There’s a really dark secret that I almost thought about abandoning. But that would be taking the easy way out. You have to do what terrifies you in real life and I think it’s important to act by the same principles in your writing as well.
It will be tough to write, but in a good way. The closer and deeper in I get, I’ll probably get nervous and it won’t be quite as easy to crank out 2,000 words in one sitting as I have the past few days. That’s okay. Writing a novel isn’t supposed to be easy. That’s the whole point of this entire website. Writing isn’t easy. We’re supposed to challenge ourselves, and rejoice when we’re excited and figure out how to push through it when we’re struggling.
I can honestly say this is the best NaNo experience I have had so far. I love being an ML and being able to write about writing to an audience bigger than 2.5 people. Thank you for reading. Write on!
Love&hugs, Meg<3
Image courtesy of Novelty Revisions.
Meg is a twenty-something workaholic with a passion for writing, coffee and health. In addition to her status as an aspiring novelist, Meg is the managing editor at College Lifestyles magazine, a guest contributor with Lifehack and a guest blogger for Food & Nutrition Magazine. She is a seven-time NaNoWriMo winner and has also written for Teen Ink and USA TODAY College. Follow Meg on Twitter.
Meg Dowell Writes 
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