Confessions Of An Aspiring Author: Vol. 3

A lot has happened since my last Confessions Of An Aspiring Author post. I started Uni (which though is only in its first week is already a nightmare), I furthered my supervisor training at work and oh, what was the other thing I did? Oh yeah, I STARTED WRITING MY FIRST EVER NOVEL! WOOHOO!!

Okay okay, perhaps I shouldn't get too excited. I started writing a little over three weeks ago and I only have 7,831 words to show for it. I mean I haven't even finished the third chapter yet! But the reason I'm so excited is because I've never written this many words for a novel before. Every year I participate in the National November Writing Month, and in Camp NaNoWriMo, and every year I fail to get past about 4,000 words. So 7,831 words may not seem like a lot, but for me it's a great start.

The problem now of course is trying to juggle writing the novel with studying, working two jobs and attempting to maintain at least a hint of a social life. I asked one of my favourite authors (Lynette Noni - go check her out!) how she juggled writing with working. Her advice to me was to take care of myself and to not be too hard on myself. As she put it, "some days will be harder than others and the less pressure you put on yourself, the easier and more natural your writing will be - not to mention, so much more enjoyable!"

Lynette's advice is good advice for everyone to follow. Whether you're working full-time or part-time, studying or lucky enough to be a full-time writer, don't beat yourself up if you only manage to write 700 words on one day. Maybe that day just isn't your day. It's also important to remember that writing is a discipline as well as an uphill battle. The day I sat down to start writing I sat staring at a blank document for a good hour before the words started to flow, and even then they didn't flow for long! I managed to write just over 4,500 words on that first day, but everyday since I haven't gotten past 1,000. And that's okay with me.

One of my challenges for 2016 was the #oneyearnovel challenge. So if I don't manage to write a whole lot while I'm at uni, but manage to have 10,000 word days while on break then I count that as a win. So long as I have a fully formed first draft by 11:59pm on December 31st then I'm counting the year a success. As always,

Stay random!

~ Jenna