I Am A NaNoWriMo Winner!

I tried to write a novel before but could never finish one. Firstly, I did not know how to use wonderful words to make my readers see what was going on in my story by detail. Secondly, I failed to make the readers of my book feel the emotions of my characters through the story. What’s worst was that I could not even tell my stories. I had great plot ideas but I can’t put them in words. My elder sister always said that my stories are more like a synopsis of a much longer story.

When my eldest sister introduced me to NaNoWriMo, an annual writting program where we have to write a 50 000 words fiction in a month, I was not so keen of joining. How in the world can I possibly write a 50 000 words novel; what more in a month.

But my big sister, who can be very forceful if she wants something, had insisted me to join the challenge.  And 15 minutes before the 1st of November, I decided to join the Young Writers Program where I can set a lower word count goal. I joined with the goal of 30 000 words.

Because it was a last minute decision, I did not have a plot idea for my story and so I decided to write a prequel of the play which my little sister and I wrote. It was not that easy to write a 30 000 words story in a month. It was very stressful.

Each time we went out, my siblings and I brought along our books. Some curious friends, relatives and even strangers asked what we were writing. When we told them, they usually said something like, “You’re crazy. That is impossible to achieve.”

I used these three pens to write 30 000 words. The two pens on the right served me from the very beginning of their lives to their very last drop of ink.

Yes, I had a hard time writing my story. After I wrote the first 6000 words of my story, I started to see the light at the other end of the tunnel. Then, I decided to add a subplot to the story. And halfway through the second week, my subplot became the main plot.

When I reached 20 000 words, the light at the other end somehow vanished and my characters were despaired. They were left in total darkness; after all, they were locked up in a dungeon.

It was on the 27th of November when I reached my goal of 30 000 words but my story is not even close to its end yet. Now I understand what my elder sister meant when she said that my stories were only like a synopsis in the past.

It was very hard to reach my goal of 30 000 words in a month. The lack of sleep, the stress we have to face, but it is not impossible to do it. Now I am looking forward to join NaNoWriMo again. And the next time, I am going to set a higher goal.

By Aeshah Adlina