NaNo Joy! I feel absolutely exhilarated for so many reasons. My biggest takeaways from this experience was completely obliterating a few beliefs I held about myself as a writer.
Belief #1: I’m a slow writer. Wrong! Totally false! I can write like the wind, especially with a little planning. Thank you, Tara Dairman, for echoing this back to me in September and also for providing some solid tools and inspiration to make it happen. With those and the tools I shared
Belief #2: I can’t make time to write every day. Wrong! The only day I didn’t write was Thanksgiving and that was only because I forgot! Even though we were hosting and there was a lot to do, I could have made time to write even fifty or a hundred words. I discovered that even writing for 10-15 minutes a day could keep my momentum going.
Belief #3: I can only write realistic contemporary fiction. Another false belief. I totally can. I did it. Yes, this NaNo draft needs a TON of work. But the story is all there. The tension, the preternatural elements, the antagonist–they are all there and I had a blast writing them.
I wrote every major plot point scene–some very skeletal such as “This happens and then this happens,” but it’s all there. Even two different endings. I’ll know later which one is the right one.
What a ride! Can’t wait to dive into shaping and revising this messy, beautiful novel.
Final NaNo word count: 62,054
Hats off to you! Congratulations!! I attempted NaNoWriMo one time and never finished. That was due in part because I lost my manuscript after almost 20 thousand words in. 🙁
Thank you! And OMG! I can’t imagine what you must have felt losing the manuscript after making so much progress. How discouraging. Perhaps you will try again sometime?
Way to push through to the end! What a relief you must feel to have it written. I can’t wait to read it.
Thank you, Kristen! I feel relieved and exhilarated. I can’t wait to read it either ;-). Hope your writing is going well.
Way to go, Denise! Way to accomplish such an awesome goal as well as learn something about yourself and writing along the way!
Thank you, Karin! It was such an exciting and empowering experience. I told my husband last night, after I’d written two short and different versions of the resolution/ending that I felt EXHILARATED. It’s so exciting and I’m jumping into the next phase which is filling in some other scenes and arranging starting to look at the story flow and which scenes will stay and where they will go.
Very exciting! Good luck as you move forward.
Thank you!
I appreciate your insights. I try to write often, but it seems like life gets in the way. I am making more of an effort to do writing every day.
Virginia–Good for you for making an effort! Life happens, but writing can do. Sending you good thoughts!