why is writing sooooooooooo hard to do??? // 6 funny things us writers deal with

April 18, 2017

WORD SPRINTS and what its like to do one

Never heard of a word sprint? Basically you get two or more people to write from a certain time to another set time (generally 10-20 mins long) and then you compare word counts to see who wins!

AND DOING WORD SPRINTS OR WORD WARS OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS they're intense.


It's like you get the message "GO" and you slip into your document and you know what the worst thing ever is? HAVING TO START A NEW CHAPTER oh gosh. It's the hardest thing ever.

The most I've ever done in a 20 minute long sprint was a little over 1k - and hahaa I think I was mentally impaired after that. Generally, I get 300-500 in 10 mins.


NOT WANTING TO WRITE 

oh boy oh boy is this me like yes it is and I'm such a bad writer - IDK how many times I say this "I DONT WANNA WRITE" because you know why? there is so much pain involved in it really! I would much rather be one of those people in the movies who voice records their book. legit.
But then Sarah is like COME ON YOU GOTTA WRITE so I do and it isn't as bad as I remembered it


SUDDENLY NOT KNOWING HOW TO SPELL ANYMORE or talk for that matter

After my 11k day back in November,
I went downstairs and I could not, for the life of me, hold a conversation. I was like this;

"Can you...watch..i mean get..some..blueberries." and each word was painful to get out

Or spelling? I don't know how often I see that red squiggly line and I'm like "*deep blush* I TOTALLY KNOW HOW TO SPELL THAT hahahahhhahaaaa......"


BEING UNABLE TO FIND A TITLE FOR YOUR NOVEL




This screams me -- for my last book "for who he was" I legit didn't have a title until WE DESIGNED THE COVER. I'm not joking - and I didn't even really come up with it. *dies* I basically threw some words at Sarah and she was like "uhmm..how about 'for who he was?'" and I'm like YES LETS DO IT #mylife

LEGIT FEELING LIKE YOU'RE GONNA DIE 

there is SO much pain in writing. Like real blood, sweat, and tears. Building characters is my favorite thing to do for sure, but then after you've got that done, you have the hard work to do. I MEAN THOSE PLOT TWISTS YOU LOVE IN BOOKS?? the author was probably pulling his/her hair out while writing it. 




also IDK about you, but I have cried while writing my own scene in a book which is really kinda weird????

PLOTTING VS NOT PLOTTING 

Okay, so I declared myself a planster, because I like some plot but a lot of it, I prefer to just write as I go....which can really be a problem sometimes, but there is a sense of freedom there too which I really need! (also woah that was a run on sentence sorry i'm rushing this post so i can go write hahaha) 

so for camp nano this month, I've got character profiles, a pinterest board (private hahah sorry!) and a page of "plot" but really it's just a lot of words about the people. I'm at 20k now so I think it's working??


In July camp nano though, I plotted WAYYYY more and haha I think that really paid off. guess we will just call this an experiment *laughs* 

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Also btw i cut my dad's and brother's hair last night *hyperventilates* talk about scary also HAPPY HUMP DAY we can make it to the weekend XD

HOW MANY WORDS DO YOU GET IN A SPRINT?
EVER CRY FROM WRITING SOMETHING??

29 comments:

  1. YESSSS THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

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  2. YES. I also have cried while writing my own book. >.< I was torturing my favourite ever character. Gosh that was a hard chapter to write. I was a bundle of emotions after I finished.

    AND SPEAKING OF CAMP NANO I REACHED MY 50K GOAL TODAY AND EEP I CAN'T STOP FREAKING OUT IT'S SO EXCITING. *flails forever* And I'm about 2/3 of the way through my novel and I'm hoping to finish the rest this month as well.

    I think my record for a fifteen minute word war/sprint is...1.5k. And that was VERY INSANE. Granted, it was actually a war with myself, because no one wanted to war against me. (it was also at midnight, and the words were so full of mistakes and ridiculousness but shhhh no one needs to know that XP)

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    1. WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO SUCH A HORRID THING?!? but yes i understand and yes I was a bundle of emotions too *sobs*

      WOOOOOOOOAHH BRO YOU'RE DOING FABULOUS! geesh how many words do you write a day??! I'm at 23k - so you are nearly double my count! KEEP GOING!!

      oh. my. goodness. you're a fast writer!! ohhh haha! I tend to do better when I sprint with others. I wanna word war with you once. ;) (shhhh nobody will know it XP)

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    2. Oooh yes we should totally word war sometime. *nods*

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  3. I am so bad at word sprints. I write a lot when I can pry myself away from the internet. That's about all I can say. XD
    Keep going, though. You've got this.
    Faith

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    1. Oh yeah, that's hard. I usually just close every tab out except for my google docs, spotify and google hangouts to be able to sprint with all my friends.
      Thanks! You too!

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  4. I've never done a word sprint... Omg I want to try it though, I doubt I'd get far but it sounds fun. Writing is complicated but so worth it

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    1. You haven't?! bro! You gotta! My Write Club has some awesome ones XD Super hard and super fast. And yessss I agree!

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  5. Ok, so we're basically twins when it comes to writing. Wow. Throughout your post I was like, "Oh my word, she sounds like me!" XD So nice knowing I'm not the only one, lol.

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    1. dude are you joking?! I'm so glad I'm not the only one too!!! what's your personality type?? I gotta know xD

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  6. Writing is amazing and this post is also quite amazing. Made me laugh more than once. :)

    Nabila // Hot Town Cool Girl

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    1. hahaha!! Thanks for commenting and I'm glad I made you laugh xD

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  7. I have never been any good at sprints or word wars or writing fast. ESPECIALLY on anything that gives me a 'words per minute' - I spend my whole time staring at the numbers as they go down. Write or Die? reeeeally not my type of thing. So I thought I was doomed to spend hours every day and still only get 10k or so for all of NaNo.

    Then I discovered (through a young writer's blog!) myWriteClub. (I see by a comment above that you are aware of this awesomeness.) Something about the progress bar really motivates me. Plus, I can see other people's progress bars! And sometimes they're way faster than me, which I always suspected ;P , but sometimes they stop and get stuck and backspace and type one word and erase it a hundred times too. And I find that so encouraging.

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    1. Hahaha I know how that is for sure - and someday's it works while some are like NOOOOOOO IM LOSING

      and eeeeeeeeeeppp I LOVE MYWRITECLUB - I was shown it last fall and oh my gracious IT WAS INTENSELY AMAZING that's when I got my 1k in 20 mins lol!! Yup. I do that all the time ;)

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  8. Nice post, Julia. ;D All these reasons are SO darn true. People ask why we write? Yes, these are all so right. <3

    Sophy
    lavender & blue

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    1. I knoowww!! It's like you know that saying "no pain no gain" well ITS TRUE

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  9. KEEP GOING JULIA YOU CAN DO THE THE THING. <333 *hands you motivational french fries* GOD GAVE YOU THIS PASSION FOR A REASON SO GO OUT AND CHANGE THE WORLLLLLLD
    (*whispers* Oh, and I don't know whether or not Savannah told you, but she laughed yesterday and said, "I was going to type in 'thebarefootgal' but for some reason I just typed in Ju..." xD)
    -Ariel

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    1. OH GOSH ARIEL THANK YOU IMMA TRYING *eats french fries even tho i had some like 10 minutes ago* OH GRACIOUS *hugs you* THAANNNKK YOOOOUUUUUU
      (*laughs* Savannah didn't tell me that but hahaha! That's the best - truly. <3)

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  10. That's it. That's my writer's life. LIKE EVERYTHING YOU SAID I RELATE TO AND IT'S SOOOO TRUE AND I JUST... AGH. I think I get 300-500 in 10 min, like you said. One time I got 900 in 25 min, which was nice. XD And how can you call these problems "funny"??? They are not funny at all??? Why do you lie, Julia??? XDD

    May @ Forever and Everly

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    1. YOU RELATE TO LIKE EVERYTHING NO WAY CUZ I DO TOO!!!! *dies laughing* woooah that is great though! and uhm I think I called them funny cuz I was trying to mentally help myself but it only made it worse bc everytime I think about how I don't want to write I think about this post so idk lol

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  11. i despise you and your ability to write 1k in 20 minutes

    what are you?

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  12. Whoa, a sprint sounds crazy! I've never tried one, but it looks pretty stressful. xD
    And oh, my goodness! Sometimes I right a scene and I am just burning up inside at myself because I'm so heartless! I've felt (I think) like crying multiple times, and it almost makes me want to delete it all and write something happier.

    Amelia xxx
    <3

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    1. They are! You should try one - they're actually really fun xD
      Emotion filled scenes are the best though..because usually they're so real ya know?? but I totally understand lol

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