What The Hell Is NaNoWriMo And Why Is It So Amazing

Welcome to a new post!

Today's one is a little different to my recent posts, as today I want to focus on one of my biggest passions: writing. When I first found out about this weirdly named thing called NaNoWriMo I got so exited I came up with the whole plot in less than a week even though it was the middle of July.

Some of you might have clicked on this blogpost, not having any idea what to expect or what the hell NaNoWriMo is. So let's clear this up first. NaNoWriMo stand for National Novel Writing Month. Each November millions of writers from all around the world make it a challenge to each write a book of at least 50,000 words in 30 days.

If you think that's easy you've either written way too many books already in this time or you have got no idea. Life loves getting in the way during these days, but it's honestly the most amazing thing to do besides studying, working, socializing.

It's an opportunity for writers to finally write that one idea they might have had in their head for month, others that just have that one topic they always wanted to write about, others perfectly plan out their story and plot beforehand,  and then there are the panters that go into NaNoWriMo, with no clue what they are going to write about. 50,000 words in 30 days equals about 1,667 words a day, which is totally manageable.

I've already done NaNoWriMo twice before, and won both times (winning in this case means getting those 50K in before it hits December). Even though I usually have a lot of school stuff happening during this time, and I really thought I couldn't do it, I still found a way. That ended up in a lot of late night writing, but it's gives you such a nice feeling to still have been able to manage to create something like this at a busy time.

So why the hell is she writing this in October? Because it's what participants call NaNo Prep month/time. The people that don't "pant" it, start coming up and prepping their ideas in order to know what they are planning on doing. If you plan on participating, and you've got quite a busy schedule, I recommend you doing this, as it will take a lot of pressure off of you if you actually get competetive about it. But that is all up to you.

What's also really lovely about the whole challenge is, that due to so many people taking part of it, there's a huge motivating community. I personally love going through the hashtag on Instagram and Twitter to motivate myself, especially when I don't feel like writing at all that day. There's also a NaNoWriMo website on which you can count your words, get your winners certificate, special offers when you win, find writing buddies on, as well as prepping and writing helps, and soooo much more stuff. I don't think I would have fought through it if I wouldn't have seen other people's process, struggle and participation to motivate myself to keep going.

But to be honest in the end you will also need to motivate yourself from time to time. You need to remind yourself why you want to do this. Why is it that you want to write this story? What motivates you? Would you like to publish your stories one day? Are you doing it to explore something new? Are you doing it because you want to spend time with someone and learn about their interests by trying them out yourself? Any reason is right. There is no wrong reason why you want to write. You need to keep that goal inside your head, put it on a piece of paper and out it up somewhere in your room if you feel like it will inspire you to keep on writing. There's always a way.

It's not an easy thing to do, because 30 days can turn out being preeeetty long when you are trying to get a certain amount of words done each day and still want to it to turn out well and have a life beside all of that writing. Life will get in the way on some days, writers block will kick in at some points, the feelings of doubt and failure when you aren't happy with your result or you haven't reached a certain goal. But guys, that's okay. That happens to all of us, whether you write or not.

This month of writing is not about writing a book that is perfect and ready for publishing. This is about creating a shitty first draft that will then hopefully lead to a perfect story that is ready for publishing afterwards if you end up editing it and perfecting it. It's all about getting those words out of your mind onto paper and having a first storyline. You don't edit during this month. You simply write down everything that comes to your mind, as shitty as those words and the plot may sound to you. Editing starts in Dezember. November is the time that you sprinkle your whole fantasy on the paper without rethinking everything that you just wrote and thinking you are most terrible writer this world has ever seen. Because you are not. If you wouldn't enjoy writing, there's a pretty low chance that you would actually start NaNoWriMo anyway, unless you are being forced to do so, I guess.

If you have any interest or passion in writing, I truly recommend you to try this out. Me and millions of other people on this planet have found it to be so rewarding, even if it can be tough from time to time, and I'm pretty sure you will think so as well. If you still aren't completely convinced or you've got any questions, I will leave a few links at the end for you to check out to find out more and get inspired and motivated to take part.

I'm really really sorry if this whole post is a complete mess because I've been writing it over a few days with breaks in between, and my thoughts often get really messy when I'm passionate about something. I also just plotted a whole background story that will play a huge role and includes coming up with a fictional war, so my thoughts are all over the place right now. I'm really sorry if you don't even get what the hell I am talking about. If you have made it till here, I congratulate you. Here's 100 dancing sprinkles to you! :D

Basically what I am trying to say with this post is, that it's an incredible for any people that have any interest in writing to live out that dream. You don't need to force yourself for years to jot down that one idea you had once upon a time and really liked, but keep putting off to write, and keep stopping whenever you've done a little something. It's the perfect opportunity to finally motivate yourself to write and get that idea out of your head and onto paper.

NaNoWriMo has lead to the success of many authors, such as Rainbow Rowell for example. Whether you are doing this for fun or because you really want to earn your money by writing books one day, November is the perfect time to do it. Now get the hell off of this probably very boring blogpost and get writing! Let your creativity flow and let's create masterpieces together!

I will link my NaNoWriMo profile HERE which you can check out if you want. Here is also a list of my favourite places to find inspiration and motivation on.

Website:

http://nanowrimo.org/

Pinterest:

https://de.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=nanowrimo&rs=typed&term_meta[]=nanowrimo%7Ctyped

https://de.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=writing&rs=typed&term_meta[]=writing%7Ctyped&remove_refine=nanowrimo%7Ctyped

WeHeartIt:

http://weheartit.com/dashboard

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nanowrimo/

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nanowrimo2016/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/search?q=nanowrimo&src=typd

Youtube:

Shaelin Writes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb-wzF6DrSslXq3qE61YL7A

Katytastic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsOUDYZWyeI7u6rzZCexkw

Little Book Owl https://www.youtube.com/user/LittleBookOwl

NaNoWriMo https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTNHbhIfLSpx_JN_1whC13Q


I really hope that you enjoyed this post, and that you learned something new and now feel inspired to take up that challenge of writing 50K in November. If you have decided to do so, whether you already knew about NaNo before or not, let me know! :)


Have an amazing week ♥


Love, Jacqueline Xx

12 Things To Do This Spring

 Welcome to a new post!

Spring has finally arrived, and with it my favourite season of the whole year! Even though we didn't have a deep winter over here in Germany, it is so refreshing to finally go outside with a thinner coat, the sun shining in your face, the cold breeze following it, the birds singing, all the bright colours suddenly coming on again...I am so ready for this Spring!

Sometimes though, we all don't really know what to do with our free time, and now that it's getting slightly warmer and we are all still snuggled into big black warm clothes with hot chocolate and tea, there's a lack of things to do.

Since you all seemed to absolutely love my post about Things To Do During Winter Break, I thought I might as well have to another similar post about things to do this Spring, to give you some more inspiration for this season!

1) Go on a photography adventure

In nowadays societey we spend way too much time on our smartphones, laptops etc. I am not telling you to not do that anymore, but I think we should all take some time off from time to time. Grab a camera and your coat, maybe a friend, your family or your pet and go for a walk. Go somewhere calm but nice to spend some time and take as many pictures as you can. It's a way of disconnecting from your digital life, spending some proper quality time in the nature, and that is definetely what I am going to do as well. You will thank yourself afterwards, because promise me, you will have enjoyed it!

2) Buy some flowers

Flowers are something that I have always loved, since my mum has always had some at home due to her job, hence why it's pretty ironic why every real flower I put in my room dies quicker than it should :D. But go get yourself some nice bright flowers. It will not only make your room appear more spring like, but also puts you into a better mood. It's one of those little things, that can really brighten up a day.

3) Reorganize your wardrobe

I know this sounds pretty boring, but we all have to do it from time to time in order not to go completely mad at some point because we can't find a certain dress, for example. Especially in Autumn and Winter we tend to wear a lot more dark and muddy colours, but now that everything is finally brightening up again and it's getting warmer, why shouldn't our wardrobes do that as well? It might take you a few hours but it will be completely worth it, and you will thank yourself afterwards for an organized wardrobe.

 4) Start something new

This is the point where you can get pretty creative. Starting something new could be a new notebook or a new book, but it could also be starting a certain sport or starting to raise money for a charity close to your heart or starting to train for a marathon, for example. There is plenty of things that you could do! Try to mix it up this Spring, and start something new and exiting, and it might end up being your new favourite thing!

5) Plant something

It's that time of the year where the flowers are finally showing up again, brightening the grass and nature all together, but you could also plant something yourself. I am not saying that you should go and start a huge flower bed in your garden, but you could start with simple things like herbs, for example. You can get seeds and pots in every supplies store, some home stores even sell little pots for you to start with. Planting herbs will also freshen up your kitchen and food a little bit!

6) Picnic in the park

Yes, that's the name of one of Tanya Burr's lipglosses, but it's actually a pretty nice idea for a spring activity! Me and my family used to do this a lot during spring and summer, though not in the park, but all you need for a picnic is a little patch of green, a blanket and tons of food. If you don't want to go to a park, you can always do it in your own garden! It tastes just as nice, but you are on your own, and if you've forgotten something you can easily run back. I don't really know what makes picnics so fascinating and magical, but they are such a nice thing to do, and to be honest they also make great pictures for your Instagram feed :D.

7) Ride a bike

In Spring I seem to be all about exploring the nature I guess, but riding a bike is another lovely thing to do to spend some time outside and away from your phone, playstation and computer. Go look up some nice ice cream places or restaurants in your area for example and drive there! We love doing a trip to an ice cream place near us, which is around 11 kilometers there and back, which sounds so much, but it's so refreshing, and also good for your health (apart from the ice cream, but okay let's not talk about that :D)!

8) Redecorate your room

Spring is the time to add colour to your life again, as I already mentioned, so you could always do that with your room as well. Buy some flowers, add some new bright pictures, put down your christmas decoration :P, and get some new and brightening things. It will brighten your mood as well, whenever you go inside.

9) Bake something fresh and fruity

The weather is getting slightly warmer, but it's still a little fresh, so why not bake something just as fresh and fruity as spring! There is plenty of cakes or cookies or whatever you want to make out there for you to bake and enjoy. If you don't have any idea, ask your mum or nanny, or simply scroll through Pinterest the whole day and find yourself something. It will look nice, and taste amazing, and isn't that worth the work?

10) Exercise

Yees I know this one is a stereotype and not everyone is a sporty person or is able to get themselves out of bed for it, but you could always try something new. Exercising is really healthy for your body, and just a small little workout each day or each few days can already make a huge difference. Try the Blogilates workouts on Youtube. They are pretty quick but not to easy, and if you want to start having a proper workout plan, you can always download one if you subscribe to the newsletter. There's even beginner workouts, and it's a way of using your freetime and also doing something for your body, maybe even outside in the fresh sun!

11) Do a digital detox

We all know how hard it is to leave our phones and other electronics alone for a few hours at some points, but it can actually be quite a relief to not focus on it at all. I actually did an iPod detox the day I started writing this blogpost, and I absolutely enjoyed it. I am so focused on my iPod some days since I mainly use my phone for WhatsApp, that I tend to forget to do other things that I truly enjoy. So I turned it off for a Sunday until a few minutes before I went to go to sleep, and I still had a great time doing things like baking, reading an pre-writing some blogposts. Think about doing it, because it really is really relieving, and I want to do it more often as well now. It will really make you think a bit more about turning your consume down.

12) Dance in the rain

Since my blog name obviously is DANCINGINTHERAIN23 I had to include this point. It's not only about the actual message behind those words, but in this case it's about the actual words. It once started raining on a summer day when I was on the trampoline with my friends, and we stayed on it and jumped and danced around on it in the rain. I still remember it so well, because I had the time of my life at that moment. It was so magical. Try it. Go out in the rain and dance, forget your worries and enjoy your life! (Don't forget that you can easily catch a cold 'n stuff like that if you do it for too long, so please limit your time and get yourself into some new clothes and into the warm house!).



Make sure to leave me some inspiration below and tell me what you are looking forward to the most this spring. :) 

Have a great day! ♥


Love, Jacqueline Xx