Opposition during NaNo?

Chatterbox: Inkwell

Opposition during NaNo?

Opposition during NaNo?

Has anyone dealt with parents or siblings just... generally stopping you from writing during NaNo? I have two wonderful parents who I love, but right now I'm getting a lot of opposition from then when it comes to me writing my novel and getting things done.

A few things you should know about me:

1. I'm obsessive. My parents are saying I should just quit NaNo, but if I quit I would probably feel horrible about it for quite some time, and, well, obsess. I didn't get to my word count goal yesterday and just fell asleep feeling so stressed that when I woke up the next morning, I realized that I had hurt my finger during the night.

2. I tend to hurt myself from stress. When I said 'hurt my finger', that was really a simple sentence that might've left you confused. I used to constantly bite at and scratch one of my fingers whenever I was under stress, which was a habit I had stopped doing recently. Because of that element of stress I mentioned earlier, I actually woke up with the skin on my finger scratched raw and with...some sort of liquid stuff coming out of it. Yeah, I have some issues when it comes to that stuff.

I also eat obsessively when I'm under stress I feel like I can't deal with.

3. I don't want to lose in this way. To elaborate, I'm completely 100% fine with losing if it comes down to my own skill not being enough. But having an outside force making me lose? No, that's not okay at all. I want to lose on my own terms if I do lose.

So... does anyone have any suggestions? I really need help just getting my parents to be able to work with me instead of against me. I'm under a lot of pressure because of them, which is unfair because I know they don't mean to have any of this happen. I just don't know how to explain how they're making me feel yet, I guess. 

submitted by Icy, age 14, The Forest
(November 12, 2018 - 8:16 pm)

Dear Icy,

Can I tell you this? I have NEVER reached my nano goal. NEVER. November is a really busy time for my family so I hardley ever end up participating all the way through. I recently got a bunch of homework and study obligations thrown in my face. And I realized that, you know what, november's not the right time for me. I console my writer self by saying that after things calm down a bit I can do a personal challenge, where I can write to the best of my abilities. 

We are all on your side. If writing during actual NOVEMBER is too stressful, cut yourself some slack and continue your novel some other time. In the meantime, you can write little drabbles or jot down ideas whenever you get the chance. 

submitted by Spring Flower, 春乌艾
(November 13, 2018 - 9:03 am)

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submitted by TOP, age TO THE TOP, THE TOP
(November 13, 2018 - 7:20 pm)

Try to explain to them that this is really important to you and that it's something you care about deeply. I don't quite understand what you mean when you say that your parents are preventing you from writing, but it's their job to love you and help you however they can, and I'm sure that they probably just don't realize how much you care. It's just miscommunication, and I know that explaining things is hard (at least for me), especially important things like this, but just try and get them to feel how you feel.

I hope I helped, but I think it's more likely that I just pointed out the obvious. 

submitted by Hermione Granger, age 13, Hogwarts
(November 13, 2018 - 9:32 pm)