My official NaNo graph. During NaNo, most of us are obsessed with our graphs!
Winner!
I did it! I “won” NanoWriMo!
At the end of the day, November 30, my total word count was 50,606. I actually hit the 50,000 at 11pm on 29 November. To say I was relieved would be an understatement. It had been quite a marathon and I had some very, very dry days in there. But I am also, even days later, absolutely over the moon. I feel like I have achieved something valuable and learned some personal lessons.
I have:
- Attained a major writing goal — my first major writing goal — yay!;
- Learned the best time of day for me to write and stay focused. (Unsurprisingly, this is exactly the same time I used to do my web development work — in the evenings when I have less distractions);
- Learned I struggle with “what happens next”, which held me up a lot. If I do NaNo next year I will do a lot more planning than this year’s vague outline;
- Learned that writing fiction doesn’t have to be linear. It’s ok to jump to another scene in another time or place if I’m stuck. The more I write, the more I learn about my characters, and the more likely it is that I will be able to go back to it later and fill in the blanks;
- Confirmed I have the most amazing, supportive husband in the world. And to think I only told him about my writing back in August! (Yes, I’ve always been a “closet writer”!) Since then he’s been an incredible encouragement. That he takes my writing seriously really helps me to do the same. I feel like it’s okay to be a writer!
Speaking of support and encouragement, I am a member of a (closed) Facebook group for folks doing NaNo this year, which has really spurred me on. Writing is a solitary thing, and actually I kinda like it that way. I didn’t attend any of the local write-ins, and really didn’t want to. But it is always good to be able to share “war stories” with others in the same boat, and to encourage and, in turn, be encouraged. Having this online support group has been a blessing.
What next?
So, in the wake of an absolutely huge writing month — now what?
Our writing group is going to continue, and we’ve started to set goals for December. It’s no longer a case of merely writing hell for leather as we did in November. Such a pace is unsustainable for most of us. In any case, some have finished the first drafts they started in November and others will finish soon, so it’s more about editing now for these folks. Some simply want a break before getting back into it. But others of us want to keep writing and finish what we’ve started.
I’m afraid of losing momentum and the last thing I want is for all my effort to go to waste, so I fall into this latter camp.
My December goal is, for the rest of the month, to write 1,000 words a day. This will hopefully get me near to the end of my first draft. And I can’t wait! Well, of course I will have to wait, but it’s definitely something meaningful to me that will help to propel me forward.
It’s (not) a wrap-up
NaNoWriMo may be over, but I am really happy to say my project is not, and is in fact moving forward — whoo hoo! My job now is to keep up the (slightly more relaxed) pace throughout the “silly season”.
If you’ve also done NaNo this year, what are your own ongoing goals?
This post first appeared at www.vmtaylor.com.au/life-after-nanowrimo/.
