Happy December, everybody! Wow, time does fly, doesn't it? Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, and don't you fret if you're feeling down and completely stressed -- the best month is coming, and with it at least a few days of rest time again! Wheeee!
Congratulations to all the wrimos who were working hard in November. Whether you finished your novel, "won" this year, or just worked as hard as you could with the time you had, you should be proud of yourself for even taking on the challenge. It's not an easy feat, writing a novel in just one month. You pretty much have to dedicate all your spare time to it, and that time is usually spent doing important things like resting, socializing, reading, etc.
How I accomplished my 50,000 word count goal was through dedication and discipline. It didn't matter how tired I was in the mornings because I would force myself to write at least a few hundred years on the commute to work, or at a Starbucks before going in. Lunch would similarly be spent with one hand holding a pen and the other my sandwich. And, of course, I wrote on the commute back home and at night before bed. It quickly became routine, and that helped a lot. It was like my brain knew it was time for writing and nothing else.
I had No Plot? No Problem! to help me along the way, but honestly I didn't read it much. By the time I got the book, it was almost November, so I had already prepped on my own. And my own NaNoWriMo journey fell on a different timeline than what most people's writing journeys are like. For me, the first two weeks breezed by quite easily, and it was actually the last two weeks that were harder. I was running out of steam, I was getting tired, Thanksgiving was taking up a lot of time, I was sick, etc.
But somewhere around the last 5,000, I had regained motivation and excitement for my novel. I knew the ending and how it was going to wrap up, but writing it was so much more fun than I had thought because my character was now different and changed. She had truly developed by month's end and was stronger than she was before. Writing the end of my novel gave me such a rush because I was proud of her and I was proud of myself. I had finally done it. I had never written this long of a story from beginning to end before because I usually never stuck out this long for a character before.
It's going to be a monster of an edit when I get around to it. But that won't be for a while because I'm giving myself a nice, lengthy break. I will be reading again, which I'm excited about because I am now tired of how I write and want to see how other people write. I'll also be hanging out with people more to thank them for their support and encouragement throughout the month of November.
Oh poop. I'll also have to do Christmas shopping. I knew there was something important I was forgetting.
** Thanks to my friend for drawing daily in solidarity for my writing daily. Check her out here!
