Whether it's your first time or your sixth time, writing a novella in 12 weeks isn't easy.
As a 2021 ONC Winner and 2023 Honorable Mention, I would know. After years of participation and reflection, I have lots of advice to share on how I did it. In...
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For all my ONC veterans out there, reflecting on what parts of your contest process did and didn't work last year is a great way to up your game.
Whether you didn't budget enough time to work and felt like you were scrambling the whole time, or got caught up in character and or plot struggles and couldn't find time to fix them to your liking, asking yourself a few questions and being honest is a great way to address and ultimately overcome the flaws in your process.
Here are some to get you started. Please feel free to share your answers or additional questions in an inline comment!
- What factors did you enjoy while writing for the ONC last year? How can you increase them? - What is the hardest thing about the ONC for you? Why do you struggle with it? - What are some of your goals from last year? How can you modify them to challenge and push yourself this year? - What goals did you fail to meet last year? Why do you feel you didn't achieve them? Do you plan to reattempt them? Why or why not? - What do you want to focus on this year that you didn't last year? - Why did you join the ONC in the first place? (Pro Tip: Look back on this answer for when you need some motivation this year!)
