Category: Blog

Welcome to the blog section of The Well-Tempered Pen.

NaNoWriMo 2023

M.

Out with the old challenge, in with the new?

This year I will be attempting NaNoWriMo for the first time. The idea of undertaking this challenge has crossed my mind in previous years, and now, for the first time, I am committing to it. After consulting some guides about how to prepare, reading the pros and cons of plotting vs pantsing (I think I identify as a “plantser”, at this point), and dedicating a few hours per week for the last few weeks, I find myself at the end of “Preptober”, somewhat prepped.

By somewhat prepped, I mean that I have an idea, a summary, and a scene outline (albeit incomplete at this time of writing). I know how I’ll start tomorrow. I’ll have to see where I take it from there.

I have carved out some daily morning time, dedicated to this project. I will likely do some extra writing on the weekends to hit the word targets.

I have tried to mentally prepare myself for the eventual urge for editing that I will have to suppress if I am to make it to the finish line. I am also using this exercise to flex my daily writing muscles. I already know, based on my outline, that my story will be far from perfect. In fact, there are major plot points I remain unsure about.

Ultimately, I will write every day. And I will aim to hit the 50k words by building endurance over time, much like training for a marathon.

I am excited to embark on this journey and to discover what comes of it.

Summer of Scribbles 2023: A Short Retrospective

M.
Picture of a sunset

How did Summer of Scribbles go?

Well, I fell off. I did. While I did get some writing in, it was nearly not as much as I had set out to. I played with a few ideas, without truly committing to any of them. Additionally, I may have slipped back to writing fanfiction.

As for lessons learned, aiming to come up with and fully develop an original story every week might have been too ambitious of a goal for me. That said, I also admittedly lacked the planning, discipline, and consistency to take on such an objective. It was also summer, right? The first “real” one since 2020, and it was… calling for me?

The excuses are endless but, ultimately, I could have done better. I am confident that I will eventually seriously take on this challenge. Maybe next year.

In the meantime, I’ve been prepping for my first NaNoWriMo, which happens to start tomorrow.

I am both anxious and excited.

Summer of Scribbles

M.

I started this website largely to hold myself accountable for writing more regularly and get some practice in.

To that end, I thought I would create a challenge for myself that I am calling the Summer of Scribbles.

I am committing to writing one piece of short fiction, every week, until the end of August.

The self-imposed rules are simple:

  • Each piece will have around 1000 words.
  • I will venture and remain outside of my usual comfort zone (also known as fan fiction, heh).
  • In order to build the habit, I will aim to write at least 5 to 6 days each week.

And that’s it! Let the scribbling begin.