NaNoWriMo 2021
It is that time of year again. It really snuck up on me. Like I don't say that every year.
This will be my 17th year participating in NaNoWriMo. I've also done a few Camps. I can't remember the last time I won. Let's see... '08, '09, '10, '12, '13, '15, '16, and '17. I did win a few Camps along the way, including recently.
My biggest hurdle is the chronic fatigue I've developed. It was 2018 when I realized something was wrong, and I've been battling it ever since. I just get so worn out physically and mentally just by doing nothing. Writing is a chore that takes a lot of brainpower, and if I don't get words down first thing in the morning, then I'm probably not going to write anything else the rest of the day.
I don't intend to make it to 50,000 words this year either. I'll be happy to hit 15,000 or even write a couple hundred words every day (or even a majority of the days). I will try like I do every year.
My project for the year was mentioned in the post where I rambled about my new obsession. It's a fanfic for Ouran High School Host Club that takes place about four years after the anime/manga ended. This story spawned an entire expanded universe around the main characters which is why I call it my Epic AU as well. It consists of a dozen or more Arcs following all of the main characters through their lives from high school until they are adults (so far covering over 20 years of time)
I'm calling the Arc I'm working on for NaNo, "Love Can Be Arranged," because it focuses on Kyoya Ohtori's arranged marriage to Californian, Hana Hoshino, who volunteers for the marriage to help save her family's company.
The Arc takes place over three years from summer 2011 until about October 2014 which is when Kyoya and Hana finally get married.
Their story doesn't end there, nor does Kyoya's start when he meets Hana. There is so much more that goes on during this AU, but for NaNo, I'm trying to stick with just this Arc. But on the other hand, I need to know what the other characters are up to during this time to add details to my story. Hence my ramblings about timelines while I try to get them all straightened out.
The one thing I'm not doing is putting together a solid outline. I've won NaNo by the seat of my pants and by religiously outlining. And I've won using a technique somewhere in between (plantsing, I guess they call it). My technique is to go in with a solid idea of what I want to happen and then just wing the rest and write anything that comes to mind no matter how ridiculous or implausible it sounds. It's a lot of fun to do, so that's my goal for NaNo this year.
I'm just going in with these little Timelines for each year to remind me of some details I can use to flesh out the story, but otherwise, I have no idea what is actually going to happen beyond that. I'll figure it out as I go. I do have a lot of information built up in my head, though. Scenes I've thought up while brainstorming months ago, but I don't really have that written out in an outline with story beats and all of that.
Fingers crossed, I can keep up the pace and at least write every day. If my chronic fatigue only lets me get a couple hundred words each day, I'm going to call it a win.