MIGHTY PEN: Summer Rain

We’re coming to the close of November, and more and more of our awesome participants are hitting that 50k, winning NaNoWriMo, and becoming Mighty Pens!! Congratulations this time to Summer Rain for your epic win. <3 Check out a short interview with her below, and you can also read some of her NaNo project, The Shadow Phoenix, if you missed it when she made Silver Pen.

Awesome job, Summer! Way to crush those goals.

Interview with a Mighty Pen: Summer Rain

What’s one thing that changed in your expectations for your project from November 1 to now?
One thing that changed was probably the expectation of my ability to write every day. I didn’t think I would be able to do it with school, but it turned out that it was so much more doable than I could have imagined! I often found myself writing close to 2500 words without noticing, and now I find it very strange not to write anything in a day.

What moment in NaNoWriMo18 stands out the most to you?
The moment that stands out the most to me is when I hit 10,000 words. My story had flown by and I thought, “I can really do this.”

What’s something you’ve learned, or that you’re proud of, from this year’s NaNo?
I had never written an entire story before, so I was proud of that, but I learned something exciting: sometimes, my characters do the thinking, and they took me to places and fleshed themselves out in ways I never could have imagined. I never thought that I could end up typing out a scene, start to finish, with no plan at all.

Any advice for yourself or others for next year’s NaNo, if you’re able to participate again?
My advice would be to find the sweet spot between planning and pantsing. Have a goal- an idea for where you want the story to go. Maybe even write it down. Then, when you’re writing, don’t be afraid to let your characters show you a way you hadn’t thought of. If you don’t like it, you can always fix it.