Lily Tibbitts’ Student Life #149
In the middle of September, I was shortlisted for a writing competition, and anyone who has spoken to me since then will know that I absolutely have not shut up about it.
This has less to do with the actual shortlisting and more to do with the fact that, after the shortlisting, they asked for a further 40,000 words of writing to determine who wins. That’s a lot of words.
They also asked for it by the start of November – not very long to write half of a novel.
I honestly wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it on top of university and work, and I was apprehensive putting so much time into my writing when it’s unlikely to win, but I decided to give it a go, setting a very ambitious goal of 2,000 words a day that I fully expected to not achieve.
But, by some miracle, I did achieve it. I shoved everything else aside and was able to write the full 2,000 words almost every single day. I had been worried about being able to fit the writing in around university and work, but it was actually on a day when I’d just finished a nine to five shift that I was able to write 3,000 words in the evening. I finished the 40,000 words with a few days to spare.
I expected to feel stressed now that it’s submitted, but I don’t. No matter whether it wins or not, I’ve got half of a novel, and I’ve shown myself what I can do with a deadline and a dash of inspiration. For now, I’m looking forward to actually seeing my friends again, or maybe doing some of that university work I’ve been ignoring…
