Nanowrimo Spotlight: Dreaming of NaNoWriMo

Good evening! It’s late, and I’ve been doing a lot of word sprints today, but I’ve got a spotlight for you from Lidy, who you can find more from on weebly, wordpress, and twitter. Here’s Lidy on her Nanowrimo history:

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This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo. I’ve always heard about the writing challenge done in November but had never participated until 2013. What compelled me to join that year was because of a dream I had. A dream about a teenage girl, a witch, who took the biggest risk of all. By outing herself as a witch to rescue the first friend she made in years. And I thought it’d be too much of a risk to let her just exist inside my dreams.

I had to write her story and the NaNoWriMo challenge helped me to do that. Then I skipped it the following year to participate in NaNonFiWriMo (National Nonfiction Writing Month). And now I’m back again, but doing things a little bit different. I’m just not writing one story but two and extending NaNoWriMo until December 30th. The first and current story is a romance novel. And the second story is a young adult urban and portal fantasy novella. This year, I’m disregarding word count. And just focusing on writing the rough drafts of each. Fixing plot holes, pacing, characterization, etc. after NaNoWriMo.

With two years of NaNoWriMo and one year of NaNonFiWriMo, my best experiences were always the people. Meeting people who were just like me. Who had a story to tell. And all of us coming together in solidarity to do one thing. Tell a story that only we can tell.

What are you writing about this year?
This year, I’m writing my first contemporary romance novel. It’s your typical boy re-meets girl, but girl tries to run away and is in denial of her feelings. So boy chases girl. There’s a lot of crossed love lines going on, a love pentagon actually and as I’ve realized myself lately. My second story is about an inner city girl who always dreamed of something bigger and better. And getting out of the ghetto. All the while not realizing that the amazing dreams she has were actually visits to other worlds. And she’s just about to get what she wished for and not in a good way.

What is your favorite movie – you have to pick just one!
There’s too many to choose but when it comes to favorite movies, I’m an 80s girl. But for the sake of picking of just one, I’d have to say that my favorite is Ghostbusters.

What advice would you give to all your fellow Wrimos?
To my fellow Wrimos, I’d like to say that achieving the 50k word count alone doesn’t make you a winner. You’re a winner when you decided to participate. You’re a winner by writing everyday.

Sneaky Ninja question! What have you learned from writing?
I’ve learned to trust in my characters. Even when I think I know what I’m doing and how I want the story to go. Sometimes they show me a better way. And I learned to trust in that.

About myself: I’m a blogger, poet and writer who loves storytelling. In particular, the stories told in books, anime and manga, and Asian dramas. On top of that I’m a huge chocoholic. Right now I’m looking forward to revamping the book cover of my poetry chapbook, “Can You Catch My Flow?” As well as making it available in print, just in time for its one year publishing anniversary. Another upcoming milestone I’m looking forward to is my 200th blog post anniversary in January 2016. In the meantime I still have to choose a graphic designer and someone who can convert my manuscript into an epub file. As well as figure out how to celebrate my approaching milestones. Whew, there’s a lot of choices to make but that’s what life is. Full of choices.