I (Unrealistically) Named 60+ Cows and Other Camp NaNo Stories

Whoops. I'm a little late with this post. Do I regret doing it? Yes. Am I probably going to do it again? Yes.




Snippet: “Oh good!” my dad said, betraying me. “Josh is here!”


Challenges:

  • DO. NOT. WRITE. INTJ. FEMALES.
    STOP.

    I worked through a Myers Briggs personality test (because they have so many questions/scenarios and it really helps me flesh out characters.) AND I KEEP MAKING INTJ females. ALL OF THEM. And it isn't just a "THEY ARE ALL ME, LOL" thing. (In fact, Terrianna is based off a DIFFERENT INTJ...but still. an INTJ.) And I'm coming to realize, that while not every female character I write is an INTJ...
    I DONT THINK I HAVE A SINGLE BOOK WHERE THERE ISN'T ONE.
    Which isn't bad, but...it wasn't what I wanted for her so I forced myself to work back through the test. Workplace cluttered? I resisted the urge to click NO! and went with kinda?
    (It's on a range. There are no kinda answers)
    But at the same time, I didn't pick everything as the opposite of myself.

    I ended up with ENTP - Turbulent (The place where I take the tests has an additional rating that rates how stable/confident/comfortable with yourself you are called Assertive/Turbulent)
    (I'm EXTREMELY high in the assertive rating, so this was fun! And leaves lots of room for character arcs!)
     
  • The second thing I ran into? RomanceSomehow I always ALWAYS fail when I'm trying to write the main romance and then while I'm struggling with that I somehow manage to write an awesome ship between side characters. So I've been focusing on that.  
  • Also finding time to write was hard and when I did have time to write a had to energy or creativity.   



Snippet: “I’ve got it under control.” I said, trying to keep the snap out of my voice and not quite succeeding. 

 
 What All Happened:
  • Twas happiness. Much joy. I plotted the first couple chapters in detail (scene by scene) and roughly plotted the majority of the novel.
  • I worked on character development!
  • I named every cow in a small dairy, even though (as I know and was often told) nobody is going to name 50-80 cows.
  • I prepared a list of puns, cheese related and otherwise.
  • I wrote the first chapter!
  • And the second!
  • And hated the second! (In part)
  • And rewrote it!
  • And started the third!
  • By this point, I'd like to note, I reached my original goal. (It was a time goal, I don't remember how much because then I...)
  • Changed my goal and started a new one!
  • Regretted it! Because now I have to work more!
  • Did more plotting and character development. 
  • Came up with AN AWESOME TITLE! 
  • Decided to horde that awesome title from all, including by Alpha readers, and only tell people when I'd finished my second draft (to motivate myself and torture you)
  • Wanted to write it but had a paper to write instead
  • Cried
  • Finals week hit is about to hit and worse, pre-finals week is here.
  • You know. The one where you have multiple papers due and 1340134813 projects and about 2 hrs of sleep? 
  • WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THAT FINALS WEEK WAS THE END OF APRIL? THE PROJECTS I HAVE DUE! THE PAPERS! WHY AM I TRYING TO KILL MYSELF???
  • (Wrote this post and worried that people will A.) Give me advice on how to college [Which is usually nice] but basically just tell me obvious things B.) Be worried or concerned C.) Tell me motivating things because they think I am not motivated and PLEASE STOP I'M TRYING TO BE FUNNY. JUST LAUGH AT MY PAIN AND MOVE ON. Just comment, "Lol. I love it when MK suffers :P"




So how was your Camp NaNo? Or just your April if you were wise enough to skip NaNo.


-MK

Comments

  1. "Lol. I love it when MK suffers :P"

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  2. "Lol. I love it when MK suffers :P"

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  3. My April was ok.... I think the end was worse... And the rest was good, if that makes any sense. I hope to do Camp NaNo someday.... :p

    astorydetective.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. When you do, let me know and we'll do a word challenge together or something :P

      I feel you. Beginning was pretty good and the end? CRAZY LAND

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    2. Ok I will let you know when I do Camp NaNo. :)

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  4. This is super relatable, pretty much my writing process. XD

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    Replies

    1. Well then I must be doing something right? Your work is amazing!

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  5. OUch I am hurt. You came up with a title and didn't even tell me :( I suppose I can wait :p

    Lia

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    Replies
    1. I know right! I'm offended too. How dare you, MK?!

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    2. How can I, you ask?

      Surprisingly easily.



      XD

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  6. I feel your pain on the personality thing - apparently a lot of my female MCs are similar to INFJs, have a warrior spirit, or have anger issues. *sigh*

    My college advice to you is don't kill yourself (Lia will never forgive you if you do), put your head down and get. it. done. And please remember to eat and sleep.

    And I call your snarkiness and raise you another: I'm withholding my critiques of your draft until you tell us the title. :p

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    Replies
    1. I can either get it all done or sleep 8 hours. And I'm not a quitter so...
      (Plus, I promise not to die. As if! If I'm going to die young it'll be doing something crazy, like getting my skydiving license or scuba diving with great whites or rock climbing. School? Pfft. I think not.)

      Well, I wasn't going to give you the draft to read until the second draft was done...so you probably would have found out then anyways...so HA! YOUR LITTLE PLOT HATH FAILED!

      (If it's any consolation, I thought your characters from the last two books I read were different enough from each other.)

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  7. Wait... people actually don't name all of their animals?! Like, my neighbor is a goat breeder and she names each of hers, even if she doesn't keep them and she's had hundreds of goats come and go off her farm.

    Don't die from school! Who will tend your corner of the blogosphere if you're not here?!

    LOL! I can tell you from experience that withholding valuable information about your story from alphas is very helpful for motivation/accountability. They won't get off your case until you get the work done and you get the satisfaction of watching their agony.

    Both my April and my camp were meh. Not terrible, but not great either. I didn't reach my camp goal and April was kind of just there to get me from March to May. But hey! Strawberry season is here and it's amazing!

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    Replies
    1. I have (12 ish?) cows and they're not all named, but they're also beef cows so?

      I'm sure, if I die, ghost me will take over, if I am not too busy haunting everyone. Or Kat from Catholic Girl Stuff. She's already trying to steal + ruin my good name :/
      The villain.

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    2. It isn't strawberry season yet here...(More towards the end of may/june so once I get home...)

      Delete

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