With Camp NaNo starting up this Friday, so many of our young writers are going to be balancing ambitious projects with school work, so Jaydon Taylor, a young writer, has some tips and advice to navigate the chaos of school and writing.
Let me be real with you all: School can be a bummer sometimes.
Every day, I try to utilize my imagination and jog down several notes so I can start penning my next big adventure. But I feel like whenever I’m mapping out a plot or beginning the first draft of a great idea I have, schoolwork becomes my biggest hurdle.
That’s why I want to tell you all that there are different ways to balance a chaotic load of schoolwork and take part in something like NaNoWriMo.
First off, I’ve always set goals for myself when working on a novel or script. But usually, the amount of pages I want to complete isn’t what pushes me forward. It’s how I’m able to complete my assignments and manage my time on those before I start working on my personal writing.
Don’t Let Your Word Count Intimidate You
When I took part in NaNoWriMo in 2021, I nearly didn’t reach my word count goal. I started to feel stressed because both my schoolwork and mental health were in a rocky state at this point. But somehow, I managed to reach the finish line, and why? I ignored the word count and just shot for the ending during the last two days. With this mindset, I was able to complete the novel and reach a word count that I was satisfied with.
So believe me when I say you shouldn’t let a daily or monthly goal intimidate you. It’s okay if it doesn’t get fulfilled within a day or a week or a month. Put school and mental health as your top priorities before setting a writing goal for yourself.
Writing and School Connect in Everyday Life!
Another thing you can remember is that writing and school connect in your everyday life! Whether you realize it or not, you’re writing every day to complete your daily tasks for your teachers, even if it’s just a quick bell ringer.
Applying your skills from creative writing to how you complete assignments for your teachers might seem like a better option than you think. Just don’t get too carried away in having fun with it or it’s missing the point!
You Can Always Find Time to Write Something
Lastly, I want to share an anecdote to emphasize my final point. When I was finished with my first draft of Dawn, I realized that my main problem with my writing habits was that they distracted me when I was already worried about my schoolwork. I started to feel worried and pressured more than joyous and fulfilled from it.
After I finished Dawn, I began to write at home and spent a few hours after school, working on longer stories. This worked to my benefit and my grades continued to soar. So just remember, you can always find the time to write something. As a wise Pixar movie once told me, “You can’t rush art.”
I hope I was able to emphasize the importance of balancing education and storytelling. There are many of us who want to do successful and get well-deserved careers through the hard work that is creative writing. But remember, good grades can make a big difference too.
Jaydon Taylor, or Inkwright as he prefers to be called, is a freshman who enjoys writing novels that are driven by the characters. Dawn is his first fully realized novel after a year of painstaking editing, which he dreams of getting published soon and made into an animated feature eventually.
