Finding out I used to be pretty cool.
**The following is a transcript, best read while viewing the above video.**
Oh… Oh God, Lezlie, you really want me to be nice to this kid?
Seriously, some things just never change.
Hello, hello everybody!
How you all doing out there?
Welcome back to my channel!
I hope this video is finding you well.
My name, for those of you who do not know, is Andrew, and I am knee-ass deep in some reflection in this November of 2020.
Today, I'm going to be reacting to another writing video that I made six years ago.
Last week had me dragging 2014 Andrew through the mud and Lezlie, over at the Nerdy Narrative, tells me I have to be nicer to him this week.
We'll see what happens.
While we're on the topic of Lezlie though, special thanks to Lezlie, for reading every chapter of this draft that I am writing for National Novel Writing Month this year.
Additional special thanks goes out to Jessi, at the Bookish Mom, and Liz, at Galactic Reads, for just watching my videos, and encouraging me, and enjoying my writing journey as much as I am enjoying reflecting on it.
And super, super, extra special thanks out to my friend Rachel, who has not only done all of my tutorials and prompts, she is also writing her own first book, and has offered to help me with my subtitles.
So, thanks Rachel!
That really, like, saves me a lot of time and I'm really appreciative of that.
So, I have no idea what today's video is about to bring.
We are not going to find out if I just keep sitting here yapping.
So, without further ado, let's Get Write On In!
Okay, so we are back here on my channel.
This video is just called NaNoWriMo Day Three.
I know you can't see that because I just have the piece of screen on just me.
Um, Skillet sweatshirt already, off the bat I'm not surprised.
One of my old roommates gave me that sweatshirt that I'm wearing, right there, so, there it is.
But, let's see what was going on on National Novel Writing Month Day 3, 2014.
This is the month that produced this book, that is not out anywhere, so, um, yeah.
Well, I'm interested to see what was going on while I was writing this six years ago.
NaNo!
Oh, oh God, Lezlie, you really want me to be nice to this kid?
For those of you wondering about the glamorous life of a writer, this is about as real as it gets.
So, I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year.
Hey, I said it 'rimo', I usually say 'remo' so, I'm pretty proud of myself for this here.
Um, I've got my NaNo mug ready to go…
And right here, still right here, still have this mug.
I've been… I had coffee out of it just this morning, nice and fresh.
I am in full swing on my word count.
Uh, I'm about 12,000 words in already.
Three days? Okay!
It's only day three but my crazy, crazy, crazy ass… pardon my French… I'm deciding to… Well, I want to try to finish out the draft of Tides of Darkness this month, which is going to be about 84,000 words.
That's a lot.
That is a lot of words.
Did I write all that in that month?
I think I did.
Wow!
And I think that that might have been my cap.
Right now my cap is a 104,000 words of a book in a month, that just happened in July of 2020.
With a book that had no plot, no plan, no nothing.
I just was like, "This is a fun idea! Let me sit down and write it out and see how far I get."
Boom! 100,000 words later, halfway.
Sure.
What's next?
I've done NaNo one time before.
And for those of you who do NaNo, or have done NaNo, or have friends who do NaNo…
I've always been self-conscious about my hair.
Can you tell?
Yeah, and it's still, like, so awkward but the hair regrowth is coming along.
So I'm bringing that hairline back.
They talk about it all the time, and you have no idea what they're doing.
The goal is 50,000 words.
My goal is 84.
I really don't know why I'm doing this to myself, but I'm at 12.
Six years later, same question.
12,000 words so far, so that's kind of exciting.
It's only day three. It is only day three, ladies and gentlemen.
Maybe not, by the time you're watching this.
I don't know, I don't know when I'm gonna upload it.
So, for those of you who are also participating in that…
I did upload it on day three.
No editing with this.
You can even just hear me clicking.
Uh, I hope you're doing alright out there, it's kind of a stressful.
Hope you're doing alright.
See? I'm always hoping the best for everybody.
Well, kind of a stressful little event, if you've never done it before, especially…
Um, I'm pretty sure I'm not drinking coffee.
…if you like caffeine if you're trying to hype yourself up on some caffeine.
What I discovered last night…
Okay my roommate, she's watching this. I didn't… I didn't… I…I didn't… I didn't get the ingredients.
…that I am now claiming to be the best drink ever.
Take some root beer, preferrably Barqs, because it's the best, and put some French Vanilla in it.
There you go! You are welcome.
Like, root beer float in a glass.
I'm gonna have to do that.
I really… I'm gonna have to do that.
I should have done that for today, but I'm gonna have to do that.
I just made a root beer float for you, kind of.
Try it out, not even kidding it's really good.
Okay, root beer float, still said it.
So, 1,667 words a day is what the average word count is, if you want to complete NaNoWriMo, for those 50,000 words.
It's even written on the, uh, NaNoWriMo facts, here on the mug that I am obsessed with, see there were six…
I have two of these now.
The other one's downstairs.
I drink it with tea, it's tall and slender.
I'll bring it out next time, or something.
…1,667. So far, I have been averaging 5,000 words a day.
So, we'll see how that goes because it's only the beginning of day three right now.
I've only been awake for an hour, so I don't know.
NaNo's kind of crazy this year.
Uh, there seems to be a lot of people participating, a lot of first-timers, a lot of people returning…
As per usual.
I learned something from doing the first NaNo, that 50,000 words, in and of itself, in one month, is not that hard.
Not that bad.
I was literally about to say that just right now.
I'm glad that I said it back then.
It's really not that bad.
And even my friend Rachel, who I mentioned at the beginning of this video, she has said the same thing.
That the more she continues, the more she realizes that it's not as bad as it sounds once you actually get started.
So go write!
GO WRITE!
Oh gosh! Did I just like turn into Shia LaBeouf for a second there?
Like, you can do it, or whatever, really angry video he has.
I don't know.
However, 50,000 words of the same novel, same characters, same plot, same setting, same whatever, is a lot more difficult.
Also truth.
Depending on how into the story you are.
Why? I don't know.
But, if you have not partaken in NaNoWriMo, and you have friends who do it, and you're trying to learn a little bit more, I guess, about what they're trying to do, think of it like this.
When you're in high school, college, whatever, and you have essays that are due.
Say you have to write a five… five to seven hundred word essay.
You have a week to do it, and you freak out because you're like "Oh my God! Five to seven hundred words is so much!
My life is over! Yadda yadda."
You wait until the very last minute to bust out a 700-word essay.
You put all your time into it, it kind of sucks, and, uh, you're just ready for it to be over.
Well, uh, NaNo is like three of those essays a day.
Without the research, really though, depending I guess on what you're writing for the essay, and for the book.
…of your friends who are participating in NaNoWriMo, just think of it that.
They're writing three essays a day and that's why their life sucks.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
I mean I don't know.
That is a good question though.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
My sister asked me the same exact question, why I think this is fun?
Because it doesn't sound fun.
And I'm not surprised my sister asked me that question.
It doesn't.
She's right, none of this sounds fun.
None of this really is fun, until it's over.
I don't know how I feel about that statement, mixed emotions.
But, will agree that once it's over, it feels better than one, whatever is happening while it's happening.
When it's over, and you look back at the last 30 days of shenanigans…
Or the last six years.
…agree that you've just survived, and you haven't actually shoved your head through the window like you want to, um, then it makes everything all worth it.
I will also be just as happy if I can say the same thing at the end of this NaNo.
Because even though the first draft is never good, I mean you at least have the first draft.
And it's definitely a lot easier to edit something, than edit nothing.
So, if you're doing NaNo, you're on day three, keep going, just keep plugging along.
Find…
I agree.
…15-20 minutes a day, to just write, and just don't worry about it.
Always remember, at least, that I'm shooting for 84,000.
So you can think about how crazy I am whenever you are trying to hit your 50,000 word mark.
And there's plenty of other people who are going for more than 50….
I'm so into the lack of coffee stains on my teeth in this video.
…50,000 words, and it's not impossible but I sit here I've completed three of the 23 chapters that I have planned for the rest of NaNo.
And, uh, yeah, so, we got, oh you know, 19 left and I'm trying not to freak out about that.
We will see.
Hopefully, by the end of the month my head is still intact.
Because…
I guess it is.
…last night I really wanted to bash it into the keyboard.
Standard.
So, yeah, it should be an interesting month time.
I'm actually quite liking what I'm producing.
I'm trying to give myself enough time…
Quite liking it?
[ __ ]
You're sitting here six years later, with it sitting right next to you, and no one else has read it before.
Okay, okay, "quite liking it" my ass.
…to reread the chapters when it's finished.
Even though you're not supposed to for NaNo, because it's not about editing.
And I don't edit, I just like to make sure that it's at least coherent enough that I will be able to work with it later.
Because I don't want to write gdfjhghfs;asdkjhg;dlsailjndf like that…
Um, excuse me?
What did I just say?
Because I don't want to write everything down [ __ ] like that.
Because that's what word vomit sounds like, when you type it, you just hit all the keys.
I don't want to be like that.
Okay, wow!
First of all, yes, that is what word vomit sounds like… or whatever the hell I just said.
Second of all, yeah, that's definitely what angry Andrew looks like when he's hitting some keyboard keys.
Get out.
So I guess some things have never changed.
Oh man, I want it to be nice, and somewhat legible.
Is it obvious that I live in a dream world?
So, yeah, NaNo's in full swing.
Seriously, some things just never change.
Let's keep this going, if you're doing NaNo, good job!
I'm right there with you, we're all a nice, supportive team.
My username on NaNo is andrewjstillman.
So, if you want to add me feel free.
We can be buddies!
Happy NaNo everybody!
Oh… oh wow!
Okay, first of all, that got really awkward at the end.
I agree with everything else.
Uh, andrewjstillman is my NaNo name still.
You can be my friend if you want still.
Even though for as much promotion of NaNo, and involvement in NaNo I do, I don't have anything, like, on my NaNo profile except for the first book I ever did.
Because that was the only time I ever, you know what I mean, like, every other time is has just been more for fun, or just for the excuse of finding a reason to write something.
That was interesting.
That one was not as awkward for me, not at all.
I… I don't think that I was anywhere near as awkward as I was on the first video, that I just did from last week.
It is interesting, I know that next, or at least I think, next week I'm doing two videos, because they're only like two or three minutes each or something. And then those ones are actual, I think, more writing advice.
But it's interesting for me to think about, like, where this was at that time.
What chapter did I start on?
I started on chapter 20.
So I started… I was right here in the book.
But even some of what I even just read, one of my favorite chapters in this series was written in this month.
Right here, Chapter 21, "Internal Treachery."
That is one of my favorite chapters in the whole book.
I have all of my notes written all over everything, all the things that I wanted to cross out, and change and all the things that I never shared with anybody.
Well, I suppose there's that.
Oh, my dog!
Do you want to come say hi?
Can you… can you come say hello?
Will you say hello?
Can you say hello?
She's the worst.
Anyway, thank you all so much for watching!
I had fun again, revisiting all of this.
It is really weird to think about all of the things that I haven't done, I guess, more so than things that I have.
That's another reason I was really trying to do these kind of reflection videos.
I know a lot of people who are scared to start, just personally.
Like, I… I mean that on an actual, like, I know people in my personal life who… and not even just writing, but over anything.
So, I wanted to really take this opportunity to hopefully shed some light on that and for some people to maybe get some hope out of really just that simple statement of getting started somewhere.
I look forward to looking back on more videos, especially videos from this channel now, in future years.
I just hit 100 subscribers, so that was fun for me!
It oscillates, it goes up, it goes down.
So who knows where I'll be at in six years?
But I just certainly hope that I just get less awkward.
But I don't know because I'm pretty sure I'm still an awkward ass.
Thank you for watching!
Thanks again to Lezlie, Jessi, Liz, Rachel, all the other people that I love and watch all over BookTube!
You guys keep me going.
It's nice to be part of a community that is steadily building for everybody.
So, I am enjoying everything that's going on, and all these connections that I'm making.
So, thank you for letting me introduce myself and be part of that "family".
So, I will see you all on Sunday when…
Oh my gosh!
Sunday I'm gonna have… I'm crying.
I have a video in my vlog, and I cried, so NaNo 2020 brought the tears out of me alread
So, yeah, Sunday I'll be crying… crying watching rugby.
Okay, so I don't know what happened to me, but I guess you'll have to check out on Sunday to see for yourself.
See you then!
