One of the weirdest things I do as a writer is hand-write all of the first drafts of my novels. Whenever I talk about it, I get weird stares. I've never gotten a chance to explain why I do it, so I'm going to take this opportunity to.
I love different colored pens and composition notebooks. I get that from my mom :). Both have always been so mesmerizing to me since I was a kid. I guess it was foreshadowing that I would use both when I started writing books. I've never had good hand-writing. This sounds really weird. Why would I hand-write hundreds of pages of content if I had bad handwriting? The reason why is because, through all 700+ pages I've hand-written, I've been improving my handwriting. You can't improve something you don't regularly exercise. I love carrying around a notebook. It sounds really stupid, but it's true. I felt like I was serving my purpose in life whenever I carried my manuscript around and worked on it before class in high school. I wasn't bored anymore. I was going on adventures with my characters. It was, and still is, the best feeling in the world. Most importantly, turning a new page inspired me to write more. Being able to physically see how far I've written in a notebook inspires me to write more. That's something typing can't do until the document is printed. And even then, you have to try to find a binder clip to hold all that paper. There's something very rewarding to me when I look at all of the weathered notebooks I've completed manuscripts in. I feel like I accomplished something unique and all my own. Do you have any questions for me? Write them down in the comments below! I'll be answering questions all day!
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November is National Novel Writing month, and to celebrate this, the writing community created Nano Wrimo. Nano is like no-shave November but for writers, and instead of not shaving, we're challenged to write a 50,000-word novel over the course of the month.
Now, that sounds like a lot of work for anyone who's not a writer. Believe me, I get that. I know a lot of my friends in my major are doing this on top of their school work, including myself, so we know how you might feel. Another thing about Nano is that you don't have to meet that requirement. You can set your own goal for yourself to reach by the end of the month. For me personally, I want to write at least 50 pages of a manuscript I just started pulling together, finish editing the first Dynasty River Mystery (one of my book series), and finish writing chapters 3-5 of the third draft for that book. Now, that sounds like a lot to do in a month, especially for someone who just started Nano yesterday (November 6) and has a full course load. It's not about setting unrealistic goals; Nano is about getting you writing that book you've been putting off working on. Writing has always been an escape for me. I regretted not doing Nano last year, and the reason I didn't was because I didn't know it was a thing until I got to college. I haven't been in the writing game very long; I've only been writing for 4 years as of October 21st. Now that I'm educated, I plan to take advantage of the opportunity set before me. Do you have something you've been thinking about writing? JUST WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT! Type it up on your computer, write it in a notebook, but for goodness sake, don't let that idea just sit around. I've done that, and it's not fun watching a good idea go stale. This is coming from the girl who started writing in her Algebra II class and found purpose in something she was actually passionate about. You never know. Maybe you'll spark something that could change your life. Just speaking from experience... |
L.P. MetzgerJust a girl with a dream, but you already knew that. Archives
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