Nanowrimo Rebel

 

Dingin November

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Langkah diatur

I have been very bad at updating this blog but about a month ago, I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I thought by signing-up I would be more motivated to write. However, since I am not very creative and had never learned creative writing properly (back in May, I started a free online course on Futurelearn but didn’t complete it – yeah, nothing new there), in the end my idea for the novel was not really concrete. I am just not good at writing descriptions be it of people, weather or anything. As for poetry, the only forms that I like are Japanese Haiku and  Malay pantun. I will try to write a Haiku in Malay as part of my blog entries.

I read some novels to get ideas. I borrowed books from the library, even the classic Pulitzer Prize Winner Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. I also bought Meg Cabot’s Size 14 Is Not Fat Either for 300 yen from a second-hand bookstore. I am entertained by the way Meg Cabot wrote. I tried to motivate myself by reading Gina Yap Lai Yoong’s  A Writer’s Journey. As for To Kill A Mockingbird, it dealt with a heavy issue which is still relevant until now, however I couldn’t finish it even after a month. It is a heavy reading, not meant as something one reads to wind down. I had to return it to the library after receiving a reminder through the phone and also by post. I feel really terrible about it. How could I commit myself to writing a novel when I could not even complete a novel that had been written by someone else?

When the first of November came, I tried to start the novel. However, I could not even feel good with the first sentence. I typed and then deleted it, several times. It was frustrating. Then on the second day, after returning the unfinished books to the library, I made a declaration on Instagram. I announced that I am going to blog this month, instead of writing a novel.

To reach 50,000 words a month, will require 30 very long daily entries or what is more realistic is to have shorter but many entries a day. As of now, I have managed only about 430 words. If I want to succeed, by the end of the 3rd day, I should have reached 5,000 words already. Can I really do this? I believe I can, with a lot of efforts, Insya-Allah. We will find out by the end of this month.

 

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